'Spotlight' A Review

Spotlight is a drama about the Boston Globe Spotlight team which broke the Catholic Church cover-up of pedophile priests. The film opens on the Globe news room in July of 2001, a senior editor is retiring and a new executive editor Martin Baron(Liev Schreiber) is coming in to take the reigns. After a brief speech by Spotlight head Walter "Robby" Robinson(Michael Keaton) the camera follows him down to the basement office of Spotlight where we meet the team- Sacha Pfeiffer(Rachel McAdams), Michael Rezendes(Mark Ruffalo), and Matt Carroll(Brian d'Arcy James). In his first week Martin advises the Spotlight team to delve deeper into litigation spearheaded by eccentric lawyer Mitchell Garabedian(Stanley Tucci) against a priest for multiple counts of child molestation.

The ensemble cast is incredible. A clinic in realism and trust. The focus is on the process of journalism, the gradual unspooling of this complicated and difficult story. Hardly any time is spent on backstory or familial context for the core Spotlight team but through the basic fundamental procedure of journalism we get a clear and compelling sense of who the characters are. The performances from the four main team members are all fantastic with a nice surprise from James the only non-famous actor of the quartet. Schreiber also puts in a remarkable, understated performance and Tucci is more restrained(and believable) then he has been in years. All work together to create a compelling piece of cinema, by steering clear of overwrought emotions and melodrama and focusing on the nuts-and-bolts of reporting we get a glimpse of some astonishingly rich characters.

The cinematography isn't especially artful but the film is shot with patience, lingering on the reporters as they pour over books or wait in courtrooms, giving weight to not only the story they are endeavoring to break but how they do it.

There is one glaring problem with Spotlight and it is a lack of women. McAdams is excellent but she is essentially the only notable female in the entire film. An element of this gender imbalance surely comes from historical accuracy but even so in a film so methodical and sincere you expect a better solution than simple capitulation.

A wonderful, inspiring celebration of long-form investigative journalism. Dynamic, subtle performances.  A story that continues to resonate.

Don't Miss It.