Review of Spotlight (2015) by Latinodirector — 15 Jan 2016

It is interesting that the public give less credit than the "Critics" to this movie. I agree with the public.

Although it is a good movie, once you compared it to "All President's Men" you can feel that something is missing. A movie is not based on the conglomerate of good actors and good settings and a good director. It is the amusing combination of all of them that enchants the receptor. In this case though, it is the topic, and not the movie, what guides the spectator until the end.The topic itself: the gruesome case about those abused victims by sick priests and how the institution -and the society- managed the crime, and how the journal brought it to the light. Was the intention here the film of a crusade? the connection between a strong faith based community and a cruel reality? Was the disapproval of the Catholic Church "as an institution"? I am not so clear. In any case, the silence presence of the victims guide the movie.

I feel that Spotlight fails in one essential point -because of the subjects developed there: missing the opportunity to go deeply into the question of faith and free will. It touched it somehow, yes, but as a small advertising that you could find in any printed newspaper. It does not go there. And faith is for example what drove Rezendes to stop going to Church -no clear explanation why; what Sacha's relatives feel touched -no further inquiry about it; and what it is in the heart of the Bostonian community -no particular discussion about that. Only big names and a big newspaper.

The church is something different than faith, I agree; but if you are going to treat this particular subject as just "the institution" the result is like filming nature without showing wilderness.

Even the history was not well re-scripted; it seems that the journalists are driven by assignment not by guts; and guts is what you need to explore with more anguish as well as impecable touch this case to be considered an excellent movie. Also, I could not detached myself the entire movie from recognizing director's influences rather than an creative opera, it was like watching "The Social Network" applied to this well deserved better construction.

A good movie, not an excellent film.