3.0 Stars
Spotlight refers to the group
of investigative reporters who work for The Boston Globe. The group has
been there since the 1970 and will often spend months working on a
single story. In 2001, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) comes in
from Florida as their new editor-in-chief and asks the current team to
put their latest investigation on hold and look into allegations of a
Catholic priest's sexual abuse against a minor and the potential
cover-up. Retiring editor Walter "Robbie" Robinson (Michael Keaton)
and his team of reporters are hesitant at first, considering Baron to
be an outsider just trying to stir things up. Eventually Robbie and his
investigators Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d'Arcy James) agree to the story and find the truth is much worse than one priest and one child.
My only concern was the potential for deep lulls in the movie pulling the
investigation and interviews together for their story over the course
of the 2 hour and 8 minute film. The "lulls" of the investigation were actually the driving points of the film. Each stone the team overturned revealed more abuses, more victims and more cover-up on what turned out to be a global scale. I gave Spotlight an anticipatory 3.5 stars
as I had a feeling it would be entertaining, moving and bold, but probably
one of those films that seeing it once or twice would be enough without
feeling the need or desire to own it. I actually lowered it half a star. Again, it's tough to rate these movies on their creative license when they are based on true stories, however, the main purpose of these reviews is to gauge how accurately the film as portrayed in the preview. The preview for Spotlight made it seem like religious leaders, politicians, lawyers and more would be vehemently blocking the team's investigation and story at every turn. In truth, it really wasn't that difficult for them to find attorneys, victims, and even perpetrators who were willing to come forward to help them piece their story together. There was a lot of talk about how powerful the church was and the reach of their control with friends in influential places, but little action to that effect throughout their digging.
Spotlight was, as anticipated, disgustingly moving and disturbing. It was well-written and brilliantly acted by the entire team, but a bit less dramatic than the preview lead me to believe. I enjoyed it, might watch it again, but most likely won't be making it to my home collection. So, what movie will be on my mind next? We shall see.
