Other than Mad Max and The Martian, this is one of the first “Oscar films” that was on my radar for this year. (I’d have seen it sooner, but I was waiting to watch it with someone else.) Excellent movie, a fine example of a journalism drama along the lines of All the President’s Men, The Hour, or State of Play.
Spotlight tells the true story of the Boston Globe’s investigative “Spotlight” team, which in 2002 broke the story of the Catholic Church’s complicity in helping to cover up sexual abuse performed by priests. Robby, Mike, Sacha, and Matt are initially on the fence when their new editor gives them the task of digging deeper into the story of a priest caught molesting children, but the further they delve, the more they recognize the horrific pattern at work and realize just how much has been required to allow such a calamity to fester as long as it has.
This is the latest film from Tom McCarthy, of The Station Agent and The Visitor (he was also one of several writers credited for Up.) He’s nominated here for both his directing and his screenplay, which he co-wrote with Josh Singer. In some ways, it feels nothing like a Tom McCarthy movie; there’s no sign of his favorite arc, a loner pulled reluctantly into the world by a relentlessly cheerful fellow who’s unilaterally taken him up as a new best friend. However, that story obviously has no place in this one, and as much as I love that template, I’ve definitely felt at times that McCarthy has a clear “type,” and it’s good for him to branch out from that. And the movie does include some big hallmarks of his understated writing and directing. His talent for dialogue that’s both incredibly engaging and 100% naturalistic is remarkable, and though the movie starts slowly, it builds in pitch and tension until suddenly, two hours have gone by, the movie is over, and you’re staring at the credits slightly shell-shocked.
As soon as the team starts getting in contact with survivors and hearing their stories, everything kicks off in a big way. So much care is given to explaining how complicated and effed-up the whole thing is, the ways in which the priests prey, not just on their victims’ bodies, but on their spirits as well. From there, the suspense ramps up as we see how deep the story goes, what lengths the Church will go to to protect its image, and how more than just the Church has been guilty of helping to keep this under wraps. Just stunningly well done.
No doubt about it, this is movie stuffed to the gills with Actors You Know. Everyone does great work, and for me, there are no real standouts, although Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams both snag nominations in the supporting categories as Mike and Sacha, respectively. The film also features Michael Keaton, Brian d’Arcy James (who I know best from theatre, especially Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party,) John Slattery (McCarthy alum for The Station Agent,) the always-great Stanley Tucci, original Sweeny Todd Len Cariou, and Liev Schreiber. (Note: there’s one character we only ever hear on the phone. I knew I recognized the voice, but I needed the Internet to be able to place him. It’s Richard Jenkins, who starred in The Visitor.)
Warnings
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