Review of Spotlight (2015) by Ken Gabriel A — 28 Jun 2016

When I sat down in my seat for my final flight to get to Belgium, I was greeted by the familiar screen in front of me that provides a sizable selection of movies for the flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

When I saw the Academy Award-winning movie Spotlight on that list, I was ecstatic to say the least. So, I watched the film for the first time amidst the loud sound of the jet engines behind me. Admittedly, as a Catholic, I was a little nervous about the way this movie would portray the Church that I'm a part of.

However, after watching Spotlight, I eventually realized that the film's willingness and ability to handle a topic that other filmmakers would consider taboo was one of its biggest strengths. Spotlight benefits from handling its subject material skillfully, conveying the events that it documents objectively, fully, and without offending anyone.

This might suggest that the film borders on the line of a documentary rather than a drama, since a documentary is the safest way to convey facts without bias. This is far from the case, as a very real drama results from director Tom McCarthy's ability to handle the story.

And everything about this drama is perfect, and that starts with the acting. Everything good about this movie owes something to the incredibly talented ensemble cast used to portray the real-life reporters of the Boston Globe.

Michael Keaton is golden in the role of Walter Robinson, and he does a superb job in conveying the man's devotion to finding the truth and to publish the story. Rachel McAdams also stood out as Sacha Pfeiffer, an at-times emotionally conflicted reporter on the Spotlight team who shares in her bosses devotion to discovering the truth.

However, Mark Ruffalo proves that HE is the star in this movie through his awe-inspiring performance as Mike Rezendes. Ruffalo takes command of his role with gusto and passion that he welds into every scene he is in.

Even though I'm happy with DiCaprio's reception of the Best Actor Oscar, I would've been equally proud to see Ruffalo take the award, because he definitely earned it. And one of the amazing things about these performances is the way the writing and screenplay develops their characters, without taking focus away from the story at hand.

Which is another thing the movie excels at: focus. Every little bit of dialogue, every scene, and every part of the screenplay adds to the characters or drama, but never takes away from the plot. In summary, Spotlight unfortunately reminds audiences of a poor time in the Catholic Church's history.

But with that aside, it is an incredible showcase of acting talent and storytelling, one that I hope directors will be able to emulate in the future.