Spotlight

A friend recommended this film to me. I was reluctant because I am no big fan of Micheal Keaton. But I watched it anyway purely because of the disturbing subject matter. Clearly this cover-up resonates throughout the US a great deal, but living in England for most of my life I don't think the shocking revelations ever rang out much other than for a random story-line that probably got buried after the immediate events of 9/11. I won't repeat the story here because other reviewers have already covered that; but what I really admired about the film was how very underplayed it felt throughout. The pacing, the somber soundtrack, the unhurried editing, even the narration all helped capture the suffocating mood of the story as it unraveled in shocking detail. There was no histrionics that you sometimes get with films that are about to expose something deeply shocking. I am reminded of films such as "The Insider" and "All the President's Men" where the the lives of the investigators/victims/whistle-blowers are put into immediate danger by a "dark force" should they expose their findings to the public. But with Spotlight, such things were avoided. Instead everything was kept at a "civil" level between The Boston Globe and The Church, even though you could feel an underlying dread or threat simmering throughout. I particularly liked the ending because even though the story was published and the victims finally came forward before the credits rolled, there was no big fanfare declaring how wonderful the Spotlight team were in exposing this evil. Instead it left us with a reminder that the abuse of children by the RC church was (and probably still is) a world-wide problem; not helped when you learn that Cardinal Law was never arrested, but was later reassigned to a high ranking position in the Vatican, even though both he and the Vatican itself was perfectly aware of the crimes committed by the Church against innocent boys and girls.

A true account of the Boston Globe's investigative reporting on the vatican's approval of sexual predator priests over many decades. Disturbing to say the least. Excellent performances from Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton. It's easy for movies like this to get bogged down in the details but the pacing here is remarkably fluid, just a bit over 2 hours very well spent.

This was a very shocking and well made film. It is about the scandal involving a cover-up of Catholic priests molesting children in the Boston area. I was surprised with the delicate nature of the film's script and how well it was handled. It had a very solid ensemble cast which helped make the film moving and horrific in parts. I am glad that a film like this won Best Picture at the Academy Awards as it had a very important message (even if I was rooting for 'The Revenant'). ★★★★