Over time, there have been many jobs that have been held in high esteem. Some of those jobs are a Pilot, an Astronaut, a Police Officer, and Firefighter. While some of those jobs have lost their luster in the public eye, one that was also on that list was a newspaper reporter, I mean after all it was the job Superman choose to do as his alter ego. There have been many times that these reporters have proven that the pen is mightier than the sword and exposed some great cover-ups. In 2002, The Boston Globe began one of those crusades, and what it found would shake the entire Catholic Church to its core.
The Globe’s ‘Spotlight’ team, the oldest and continuously operating newspaper investigative unit in the United States started to look into a story. It involved the cover up of abuse by priests in the Catholic Church. Spotlight was lead by its editor Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (Michael Keaton), who was born in raised in Boston. His team of reporters: Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sasha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), who were all known for their reporting skills followed the leads. The investigation took five months, and countless hours, but the finished product was a story that would change so much.
In the spirit of such great films like “All The President’s Men”, “Network”, and “Frost/Nixon”, “Spotlight” channels them all and adds itself to that list. Written by Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, who honor the account of events with their pacing but never lose sight of the story they are telling. McCarthy also directs the film, and takes a minimalist approach, instead he let’s his actors and the shocking truth take center stage. Stories like this are like a puzzle, and while they are put together, the excitement builds with each moment before you get to the finished product. This ramping up of intensity is helped by a simple score for the film by Howard Shore. Both Ruffalo and Keaton shine in their roles with a cast that also includes Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, and Billy Crudup. There are a lot of great stories out there, as is the case of The Globe’s reporting on the Catholic Church’s cover up; to be able to watch how they got to that finished story is fascinating and hard to take your eyes off of. “Spotlight” is one of those movies that will stand the test of time, and likely make many people’s list of top movies of 2015. I really enjoyed this film, and believe most will feel the same way, so take the time to see what goes into this time old tradition of getting more than one side of the story and witness when everything comes together for an near perfect film.
