Review of Spotlight (2015) by Ben B — 29 Jun 2016

Spotlight is based on true events and stars Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, John Slattery, Brian d'Arcy James, and Liev Schreiber as employees of the Boston Globe who uncovered the story of Catholic priests molesting children and covering up the evidence with help from high-ranking Cardinals. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. What else is there to say about a movie with that prestige?

To start, the cast is great. Mark Ruffalo (who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor) really shines. Liev Schreober, playing the editor of the Globe, is the initial driving force that gets the ball rolling. Stanley Tucci delivers a humbling and troubled performance as a lawyer who has defended many victims of this abuse. There isn't a poorly-given performance or an annoying character in this entire movie, which is refreshing.

It's the little things that really carry the load here, however. Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings franchise) composes a beautiful, melodic, and at times haunting score, appropriately accompanying the tone of the film. Speaking of tone, major props to McCarthy! With this story, it would have been easy to approach it in a melodramatic way, but he directs a very respectful film here. The pacing of the movie is also very consistent. My dad said "there was never really a lull," and I agree. The movie just keeps snowballing, getting bigger and more urgent.

Now, I do have a couple tiny nit-picks with this movie. There's a little bit of journalism jargon I didn't understand at first because the words were used in a way that gave no information to their meanings, but it became clearer as time progressed. Hey! Speaking of progressing time, there was really no clear indication about how time passed in this movie. In one scene, they mention how the Spotlight story had been put to the side for six weeks because of 9/11. There was a montage scene later on depicting the further passing of time, but the random jumps felt odd with no explanation.

Folks, this movie won Best Picture for a reason. When you combine a true story with a cast like this, the odds are ever in your favor (remember 12 Years a Slave?) If you enjoy movies based on true events or just good movies in general, go watch Spotlight today (ON NETFLIX!).

Final rating: A-.