'Spotlight' was one of the most riveting films I have seen this year. I viewed the film while my tea got cold, my dinner waited, because I had to see the end. Of course, I knew the end, I live in New England, and I remember these days, but how the story was born, the reporters and the Spotlight portion of the Boston Globe just entranced me. The Globe has a great reputation and when a new Editor in Chief, Marty Baron, played by Liev Schreiber, comes to the Globe he is looking for a story that will garner more readers and will prove to in Boston's best interests. And, did he get what he wanted and more. Walter Robinson, played by Michael Keaton, is a superb newspaper man, a leads this elite group of four journalists who can carve out a side of history. What Baron found was a small story about a priest abusing children, he suggested this avenue. The group, at first reluctant, fell into this story full force, working around the clock, this team was the best. The reporters included Mike Rezendes, played by Mark Ruffalo, and Ruffalo gives this role everything he has, superb. Sacha Pfeiffer, played by Rachel McAdams, another fabulous actor,and Matt Carroll, played by Brian d’Arcy James. The editor at the time, Ben Bradlee, Jr., played by John Slattery, is the most reluctant to pursue the story, but he was quickly initiated. As the team finds clues, interviews victims, lawyers and the like, the entire story unfolds. This is a systematic cover up of abuse of thousands of children, at least by 70 Priests in Boston, and it spread throughout the world. It is sickening to think this abuse went on for years and priests were moved from parish to parish, lives destroyed, millions paid out to the victims. The Catholic Church was culpable and turned a blind eye, it is very difficult to understand this folly. Why the Church is still standing is a testament to someone's faith. Such a superb film in every area, storyline, directing, music, and the actors. A true story come to life. Highly Recommended. prisrob 02-23-16 Read more
The first thing that must be said about this movie: Thank God for the First Amendment and for the Fourth Estate. I am so grateful to the hard-working journalists who have brought these stories about clerical sexual abuse to light in Boston and all the other places. Second, what a brilliant film. Tight script with incredible acting by so many, including Ruffalo (who normally annoys me in other roles), Keaton (who is just amazing in this), McAdams, Schreiber, Tucci, and Slattery. Deserving of the awards it won at the Oscars for best picture and best screenplay. Would have been deserving for some actors to win too for their roles in this, but I realize those awards are not given in a vacuum--many other good competitors from other films. Nice score. And the costumes are beautiful. I like how it shows the real work of writing an investigative story. Just regular people in a certain way doing their job well--working on a hunch, working sources, solving problems together, making judgment calls. If you are looking for a film to watch right now, look no further--you have gold in your hands. An excellent, fun, important film. Read more
If this movie doesn’t drive home the importance of Freedom of the Press, nothing will. When a few anonymous individuals bring down a bastion of corruption and evil, that is, indeed, what the American ideal is all about. Read more
“Spotlight” is the Academy Award winning (Best Picture, Best Screenplay, 2015) film that depicts the efforts of the special investigations unit at the Boston Globe newspaper to uncover and report on the Catholic church sex abuse scandals in Boston during the last three-plus decades of the 20th century. Simply put, this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in the past 20 years. In 2001, the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team is persuaded by Martin Baron, the newspaper’s newly appointed managing editor, to begin an in-depth review of a handful of known cases of child sex abuse by Catholic priests. Baron wonders if these are isolated incidents perpetrated by a few rogue priests, or if there is a larger, systemic problem that involves not only the pedophile priests, but also a church hierarchy that may be covering up these priest’s sexual abuse of children. The Spotlight team’s four members – Walter (Robby) Robinson (Editor), Sacha Pfeiffer, Mike Rezendes, and Matt Carroll – begin their year-long investigation. Each of them doggedly pursue their own leads. They dig into archived articles; they interview victims, lawyers, and church officials; and they research legal documents. At first slowly and haltingly, then more steadily, they begin unearthing new information that confirms Martin Baron’s worst fears: the Catholic Diocese of Boston is indeed beset by an immense scandal that involves not only dozens of pedophile priests, but also a diocesan hierarchy that for decades had systematically covered up the crimes of these priests. “Spotlight” manages to handle its exceptionally emotional subject matter with tremendous skill and sensitivity. I think the biggest reason it works so well is because Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, the film’s writers and producers, resisted the temptation to turn “Spotlight” into an overwrought melodrama. Instead, “Spotlight” is presented as quiet procedural in which a small cadre of superbly professional journalists go about their daily work of uncovering their gut-wrenching story with little fuss or fanfare. “Spotlight’s” harrowing subject matter ensures the tension and suspense that permeates nearly every minute of the film. The beautifully written screenplay and the uniformly brilliant performances from the ensemble cast that includes Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, and John Slattery, make this perhaps the best film about journalists ever made. Most highly recommended. Read more
This is a good movie. Based on real events. Good writing and acting. Read more
