Director: Tom McCarthy
Writer: Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer (Screenplay)
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Brian d’Arcy James, Stanley Tucci, Elena Wohl, Gene Amoroso, Billy Crudup
Plot: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Interesting Factual Film
Story: Spotlight starts with a short look at what happened in 1976 Boston where a Priest gets off any charges of molestation. Move forward to 2001 in the Boston Globe where the ‘Spotlight’ team Robby (Keaton), Mike (Ruffalo), Sacha (McAdams) and Matt (James) run an elite segment in the paper. When Marty Baron (Schreiber) comes into the paper people start fearing about their jobs, but one of the first things he does as a stranger to the city is to challenge the Spotlight team to look into the Boston Catholic Church and their molestation case.
The team of four start looking through the stories from the last 25 years that have all almost gone unpunished and what they dig up will change the way the world sees the Catholic Church forever.
Spotlight is a film that gives us a big history lesson about how corrupt the Catholic Church had become, it shows how easily they could cover up all their wrongs and thought that everything was just fine because of the contribution that made to society. The reality is how big everything got how far up the ranks the corruption within a religious circle things got showing just how bad things were for the innocent victims. This film shows how hard it was to speak up and remember all the things the victims were made to do showing how it has affected their lives forever. If you want a good, no a brilliant history lesson this is one for you.
Actor Review
Mark Ruffalo: Mike Rezendes is part of the Spotlight team who is liaising with lawyer Mitchell Garabedian who is also trying to take down the Catholic Church on his own, he gets pointed in the right direction as he investigates his side of the story. Mark is brilliant in this role giving us a performance that can go hand in hand with his Zodiac one.
Michael Keaton: Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson is the leader of the Spotlight team who is the one that can confront the higher officials that stand in the rest of the team’s way, he is blunt when it takes on these people. He has the most connections and is one of the most respected people in the newspaper. Michael continues to give brilliant performances after his one in Birdman last time out.
Rachel McAdams: Sacha Pfeiffer is one of the Spotlight team who gets to know the victims while being the partner to Robby in the interviews with the Catholic higher ups. She uses her ability to show her empathy towards the victims to help them feel comfortable about their stories. Rachel gives us a brilliant performance in this role where she shows her serious side.
Liev Schreiber: Marty Baron is the man who gets placed in charge of the paper where he comes to Boston to give fresh eyes on the Catholic Church cover up. He tasks the Spotlight team on this story to expose a story he had no idea would be one of the biggest in Catholic Church history. Liev is almost unlike anything you have seen from him before but I would have liked to have seen more from his character.
Support Cast: Spotlight has a brilliant supporting cast that all help get to the bottom of this story.
Director Review: Tom McCarthy – Tom gives us a brilliant story showing how the world we thought was safe could be filled with so much corruption.
Biographical: Spotlight shows just how much hard work had to be put in by a team that trusted each other to come up with their end of the story.
History: Spotlight gives us an example of a power who thought they knew all and could get away with anything and how easy they could be bought down.
Thriller: Spotlight has moments of thrills but it is more about how well the team puts the story together,
Music: Spotlight uses the music to show the moments unfolding without going to heavy on any side of it all.
Settings: Spotlight keeps most of the settings in and around Boston which helps us know where the story first broke.
Suggestion: Spotlight is one to watch to learn about how the Catholic Church operated, but you do need your serious head on while watching. (Watch)
Best Part: The performances are brilliant.
Worst Part: Could be considered too serious for some.
Believability: Based on what really happened in Boston.
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Awards: Nominated for 3 Golden Globes including Best Picture, Director and Screenplay
Oscar Chances:
Runtime: 2 Hours 8 Minutes
Tagline: Break the story. Break the silence.
Overall: Brilliant history lesson of one of the biggest scandals in Catholic Church history
Rating
