Spotlight Review

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schrieber, Stanley Tucci

"It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to abuse them. That's the truth of it." Lawyer Mitchell Garabedian (Tucci) says this journalist Michael Rezendes (Ruffalo). In 2001, Garabedian was the lawyer of 84 clients, each accusing a single Boston priest of raping or molesting them. And those 84 are the lucky ones. It's assumed most of the victims killed themselves. It only started with one. One priest. Spotlight is the true story of the four reporters who investigated the Catholic Church system in Boston of covering up their priests' sexual abuse of thousands of children. Like many stories, it started with one. If you were alive to remember the scandal, it ended with 249 priests in Boston accused of molesting a total that far exceeds 1000 children. One was as young as 4. For this reason, Spotlight is an incredibly important movie. And don't worry. You won't see any of the molestation. This movie is solely about the journalists who uncovered the secret, and it's very professional. It's the sort of movie that just makes you stop in your tracks, and think.

Spotlight isn't just a good film, it's a great one. But it's surprising how good it actually is. It merely is an extremely professional movie. It's hard not to get worked about when child molestation is the subject. When combining the kind of manipulation and transformation into "a cottage industry" as Keaton's character puts it, it's even more infuriating that this many children were sexually abused by adults they trusted, and that the Church didn't care. But Spotlight presents its subject professionally. The priests largely aren't even characters, save for one terrifying encounter with McAdams' character. She merely bumps into a man, but when it's revealed he's a priest who molested 60+ kids, you get that feeling in your stomach that he's a monster. Spotlight knows that the subject is so rich, but writer/director Tom McCarthy is just showing what happened. There is no extra drama, and no tacked on plotlines. As good as the actors are, they largely don't even have any meaty scenes. They're just great at what they do. This movie has the kind of reserve that baffles me. It's hard to even write about something like this without feeling disgusted, so I still can't wrap my brain around how this movie presented itself with such prestige.

If you hear anything about Academy Award predictions, Spotlight is at the top of most critics' lists. I'd hate to say anything when I haven't seen all the movies, but the other films have their work cut out for them. It's not the kind of movie that strikes you instantly as "the best movie of the year", but it's the type that sticks with you, and is deserving of such an award. For acting, it's largely an ensemble piece which makes it great. Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams steal the show, but none of them is a clear lead. They all feel like team players, along with Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci in key supporting roles. Everyone here does a great job, and come Oscar day, I think Michael Keaton may finally get the award he deserved for Birdman last year. In terms of writing, the script is exceptional. As I've said before, it's extremely respectful to its subject. I've never heard of Tom McCarthy but he's obviously a great director. Many shots slowly pan out or zoom in on an object, and the ominous score gives an eerie feeling to the movie, which emphasizes its dark subject matter.

I've heaped a lot of praise on Spotlight. It's a great movie. I strongly urge everyone to see it, because it's also an important movie. It's sad that the great work by these reporters was overshadowed by 9/11, which happened months prior to the story's release. While it was overshadowed, it certainly wasn't forgotten. This story shook the Catholic Church to its core, and rocked many people's faith in the system. Numerous arrests were made, and investigations followed in cities around the world. Spotlight's credits show all the cities where priests were found guilty of molesting children post-2002. The number will shock you.

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