Spotlight (2015) - McCarthy puts an admirably bright and sober light on one of the major crimes of modern history

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best True-Crime Movie of the Year
+ Best Boston Movie of the Year

The poster for Tom McCarthy's Spotlight indicates its focus on investigative journalism

Spotlight is the 5th feature from great New Jerseyite writer-director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent (2003)), who has written the Oscar-nominated script with Josh Singer (The West Wing (2003-04)).

In the offices of the Boston Globe newspaper works the country's oldest investigative journalism unit, Spotlight. As the paper gets a new editor, a local scandal that has been overlooked comes to take over the unit's long hours for months: The Catholic Church's decades-long problem with sexually abusive, pedophile priests and their covering up for them.

The authentic content of Spotlight, of which the vast Boston scandal is only one out of several dozens if not hundreds, is outrageous and deeply affecting. The deceit of trust and neglect involved on the behalf of the Catholic Church worldwide amounts to what I consider as one of the largest crimes against humanity in modern history. And the fact of the matter is that the Church of today, despite its drawn out acknowledgment of its responsibility and possible change of policy internally, still clings to the practice that is at the heart of this problem: Its insistence that its priests remain celibate.
Spotlight's great accomplishment is that it lays bare this very dark chapter of US, Catholic and essentially world history. But also that it shows the unique importance of investigative journalism to lift such major societal issues out into the light, when society-bearing institutions are not up to the task, which won them the Pulitzer prize in this instance. In a time when social media, communications people, gadget, finance, sports and celebrity news have increasingly eaten up newsrooms the world over, Spotlight takes a stand against that development and for the importance of the labors of the serious, investigative reporter.

One of the heavy-aired meetings in Tom McCarthy's Spotlight

No doubt Spotlight is a must-see film. It is not only gut-wrenching but will leave many audiences panting, nauseous and literally sick to their stomachs. It is a feel-bad movie, but an essential, important one.
It is hard to single out actors for praise, since the film is really a case of a great ensemble giving fine performances across the board. Liev Schreiber (Pawn Sacrifice (2014)) as the surprisingly conscientious and smart new editor at the Boston Globe; Brian d'Arcy James (Game Change (2012)) as the Spotlight member who has to take up writing a horror novel in order to get his mind off the fact that the Church has a secret treatment center for its pedophile priests in his neighborhood; Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada (2006)) as the tireless lawyer working with the survivors, and Jamey Sheridan (Homeland (2011-12)) as an incriminated lawyer were in my view truly great in Spotlight, but Oscar-nominated Rachel McAdams (The Vow (2012)), Michael Keaton (Batman Returns (1992)) and Oscar-nominated Mark Ruffalo (Begin Again (2013)) are also all fine.
Spotlight is a sober depiction of a scandal from the view of the journalists that uncover it in the vein of the great All the President's Men (1976). The filmmakers have chosen to let the content speak on its own, presenting it in a docu-like realism that can hardly be termed very filmic. Masanobu Takayanagi's (Warrior (2011)) cinematography and Howard Shore's (The Departed (2006)) overly simple score are the least impressive parts of the film in my opinion, and the reason for my not awarding it a 6th ♥.

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Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 92.2 mil. $

= Big hit

[Spotlight premiered out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival September 3 to sustained applause and runs 129 minutes. McCarthy and Singer's script figured on the 2013 Blacklist. McCarthy is Catholic and Singer stated that the aim was not to expose the Catholic Church but to show the power of the newsroom and that journalism is important. Shooting began in September 2014 in Massachusetts and Ontario, including in many of the real locations such as the Boston Globe offices and the Boston Public Library. The Oscar-nominated editing lasted 8 months. On the limited release first weekend in 5 cinemas in North America, it racked in a 59,002 $ per screen average, among the best averages of the year. Spotlight made 4.4 mil. $ in its wide-release opening weekend, finishing #8, (which is far from impressive, given its stars and great relevance.) It has grossed 38.3 mil. $ (65.9 % of the total gross) in North America, and the 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been the UK with 6.3 mil. $ (10.8 %) and France with 3.1 mil. $ (5.3 %). The film has been praised by the Vatican, and the Vatican City's commission on clerical abuse have attended a private screening of it. Spotlight is nominated for 6 Oscars; Best Picture, Supporting Actress (McAdams), Supporting Actor (Ruffalo), Directing, Editing and Original Script. It has won a slew of awards, figure on tons of critics' top 10 lists of 2015 and is #172 on IMDb's Top 250 as rated by its users. Spotlight is certified fresh at 96 % with a 8.9 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Spotlight?