Spotlight Review

Investigative journalism is important and it shines more than ever in the 2015 motion picture Spotlight directed by Tim McCarthy with Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo headlining. The film focuses on a true story through the eyes of the Spotlight team, a team of four investigative journalists at the Boston Globe who set out to prove that different corrupt priests had been molesting children for decades and the truth had been swept under the rug. This story is a powerful one because the characters face an unspeakable truth that directly exposes an evil that had been present in our world and it takes into consideration the effects on the people discovering this truth in a realistic manner. McCarthy certainly had a challenge in effectively presenting a true story in a clear and engaging manner to his audience without simply regurgitating the events of what happened and he does so excellently.

    Whenever a movie presents a serious topic or issue it has to make sure it doesn’t lose sight of who the audience is investing in as sometimes it may focus on the shocking true story and sacrifice great characters but Spotlight bypasses that pitfall with incredible ingenuity. The screenplay has well-written characters with arcs that aren’t obvious giving the audience a reason to spend time with the journalist characters of this movie in order to learn more about them and the change coming about in them as they conduct their everyday lives. If subpar actors filled this cast the writing behind the scenes wouldn’t matter much as the material would fall flat. However, a great ensemble of actors bring to life the characters with Michael Keaton at the forefront. Keaton is certainly known for his comedy and drama chops and best known for playing a certain bat yet you forget all the other roles you've seen him in when you watch him perform in Spotlight as he transforms himself into an ordinary yet extraordinary hard working crack journalist by the name of Walter Robinson who heads the Spotlight investigative team. Keaton has great chemistry with his co-stars as everyone adds something to the story and enhances it. Mark Ruffalo was born to play Mike Rezendes, a journalist who is quite the quirky character with his deceiving laid-back yet really hard-working nature and excellent natural comedic sensibility. Interestingly Rezendes appears at first to be a surface level yet charming character however through the events of the film as he is allowed to do his job you see a change in him on a personal level that effectively ties into the thematic nature of the picture itself. Rounding off the team of journalists is Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer, who captures the spirit of a relentless female journalist firmly entrenched in her own life and Brian D’Arcy James as Matt Carroll a studious family man journalist with a heart for his work. The inherent chemistry within the cast is so great because it helps to make clear to the audience the importance of the issue of the child molestations by corrupt priests within the church while allowing for interesting and engaging character dynamics and evolutions.

     As Spotlight investigates the child molestations it strikes all of the team to their core. McCarthy doesn’t resort to over the top dramatic antics to put the characters into quarrelsome debates with each other but rather allows the plot and tension and character arcs build and build till the height of the drama with the climax. The nature of the story comes to the characters with a revelation that this story is so big that people couldn’t have known about it and there's only one explanation which is that people did know about it and chose to look the other way. This story point directly builds an emotional arc for Keaton’s character Robinson as he realizes that in his seasoned career that whether he was cognizant of the truth or not he was aware of these occurrences and dismissed the notions still. This emotional plotline is reliant on Robinson’s friendship with Jim Sullivan who is played with great talent by Jamey Sheridan. The parallels between the truths of right and wrong and denial play out well and drive this picture into a fantastic territory. The other members of the Spotlight team deal with pressing personal convictions as their investigation leads to the ugly truth. This is so prominent as Rezendes is conflicted over troubles with his faith and is faced with corruption in the world. The family man Carroll finds the story hitting very close to home literally and McAdams’s character Sacha is faced with a personal fundamental relationship in conflict with the story. Beyond the investigative Spotlight team, the overseer of the team Ben Bradlee Jr. played by John Slattery helps to bring objectivity to the team’s personal crisis and self-evaluation during this time. Perhaps the catalyst behind the whole story who drove all these ordinary characters to face realities they weren’t taking the courage before to face is the newly appointed editor of the Boston Globe Marty Baron played by Liev Schreiber. Baron is a very low-key guy but one who to quote another character in the movie is a “decent fellow”, and one who has a vision for important relevant stories to his readership. In a way, Baron’s readership in the picture, the citizenship of Boston, is in fact psychologically the audience and it works perfectly. Out of the importance of the message this picture is sending about a terrible truth about corruption through character explorations McCarthy manages to capture a really special tone.

      The tone is ultra serious however that doesn’t mean that is the nature of the characters. On the contrast, the characters are quirky and funny and plenty of comedic relief makes its way into this picture. This is important because as the ominous edgy tone necessary for this picture to effectively capture the horror of the ugly truth that the journalists discover is implemented tension needs to be offset by joy. A movie that doesn’t let up at all in a harsh environment in its tone runs the risk of losing its connection to its audience but by bringing in fun quirks from the characters necessary tension relief is built in and a more natural human take is applied. The necessary specific cinematic nature of this picture elevates it to a place of prominence in the media world.

    Corruption amongst the trusted source of the church is exposed and that places this Michael Keaton film into a place of relevance in cinematic history forever. The truth explored that corruption is ever present is one that is important and shouldn’t be forgotten. If one interpreted the message of this picture of being one saying that the Church shouldn’t be trusted I would say they would be wrong. On the contrary, the Bible speaks of corruption amongst officials and people of esteemed position in the world and the evils they undertake in. If anything people should walk away from this picture with their guard strengthened and their eyes to faith in God. Spotlight is a cinematic masterpiece which I truly believe deserves the spotlight in my mind and I am assigning this drama a score of 9/10.