There are several ways to begin the review for Spotlight. Let’s talk about the cast (quite the ensemble cast of the year). I could talk about the hypocrisy that is organized religion. I will mention both of these in this post. However, I will begin with the old-fashioned newspaper reporting that was once our primary source of reliable news. In many ways, it is unfortunate that newspapers are no longer what they used to be, nor will they ever be again. With the invention of the Internet, it was only a matter of time before most newspapers folded, while others had to majorly trim their staff, editions, and the number of pages produced with each issue. Where will The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and The New York Times be in 20 years? Well, if the changes in the previous 20 years are any indication, these newspapers will not even be around in 20 years. If they are, they might be entirely electronically based. There will still be a place for prominent metropolitan newspapers, but it will not be in the print variety. There are still things that interest me in the Washington, D.C. area that can only be fully addressed in a publication like The Washington Post. Still, I haven’t purchased a physical newspaper in over a decade and only read one if I happen to see it sitting at a bar while eating dinner, in the school library, or elsewhere.

So that is a significant sidebar. Sorry. Spotlight might be the best movie on newspaper reporting ever made.

I am fully aware of All The King’s Men, which is why I am not already declaring it number one. If you liked All The King’s Men, you’ll absolutely like Spotlight. Most of the other great films about newspapers that I researched were well before my time, and I wasn’t even fully able to tell if they were actually about newspaper reporting. Ironically, one of the other great movies about newspapers in recent years (1994’s The Paper) also starred Michael Keaton (Birdman, Beetlejuice), the lead actor, if you had to pick one great cast. While The Paper was a good movie (88% on Rotten Tomatoes), it was not based on a true story. All the President’s Men and Spotlight both were. Furthermore, these two movies exposed two of the most significant attempted cover-ups of the last 40 years. So which one is a better movie?

I have no idea. I’d need to re-watch All the President’s Men. I do realize that this movie did win four Academy Awards. It’s still early in awards season, but, as good as it is, I don’t see Spotlight winning any Academy Awards in what is proving to be a challenging year. Nonetheless, Spotlight is a riveting drama about a handful of people working for The Boston Globe who were committed to exposing Cardinal Law, the Catholic Church, and an extraordinarily high number of Catholic priests accused of molesting children in Boston, Massachusetts.

This movie takes place in 2001 and 2002, a few years before the mass public knew about high members of the faith abusing their power and doing all kinds of inappropriate things with members of the congregation who turned to these men, and in some cases, women, for advice. I won’t even focus on the other atrocities committed by these high officials of the church. I will focus on the incredibly high numbers of inappropriate sexual acts committed by priests. And I know that the focus shouldn’t just be placed on priests. I understand that the focus shouldn’t be limited to Catholicism. There are high-ranking officials in all of these faiths misbehaving.

This story begins in Boston with a nearly unrecognizable Liev Schreiber (Showtime’s Ray Donovan, A Walk on the Moon) as Marty Baron, the new editor-in-chief of The Boston Globe. He’s coming off a short stint from the Miami Herald and previously worked for one of the papers in New York. He’s not a Boston man, has no Boston ties. While respected, he has a reputation for not staying with his previous employers for very long. What is ironic about Schreiber here is that his role as “a fixer” in  Ray Donovan stems from the abuse that he and his brothers suffered as kids from a priest in their native Boston.

Schreiber’s portrayal is so far from Ray in the Showtime series that it further exemplifies that he might be one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. He was so quiet, calm, and able to look at the significant picture long-term, like Marty. To say his character is the complete opposite of the intimidating, lawbreaking Ray in Ray Donovan might be the understatement of the year. Marty wants to make his mark, just as any good editor-in-chief would like to do. Specifically, he wants his Spotlight Team (basically the Feature section of The Boston Globe) to dig deeper into a news story that alleges a Catholic priest molested a boy. In 2001, Boston was a highly Catholic city, so this wasn’t the most popular move in the world. However, he knew that his team would face considerable resistance and recognized that stories like these needed to focus on American journalism.

However, Marty believes he has a good Spotlight team that he trusts. This begins with Walter “Robby” Robinson (Keaton), who heads a group of three dedicated reporters. Spotlight was Keaton’s first movie since his near-Oscar-winning performance for Birdman, and it was good for me to see him return to a role that I was more accustomed to seeing him in. I loved a bunch of Keaton’s stuff in the ’80s (Beetlejuice, Mr. Mom, The Dream Team, Batman), but I like Keaton 2.0 just as much. In this role, he’s what you would expect in an editor. He is willing to listen but doesn’t hesitate in his decision-making. He is there to support his staff and speak his mind when necessary, and he knows that empowering his writers and reporters will bring out the best in them. His team of reporters includes the quirky but compelling Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher, The Kids Are All Right), the persistent Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams – Red Eye, Midnight in Paris), and the do-a-little-bit-of-everything Brian d’Arcy James (Matt Carroll – television’s Smash). It’s a lovely little team with a great rapport with some in the office, including Marty and Deputy Editor Ben Bradlee Jr. (played by John Slattery, known for television’s Mad Men).

The team thrives on Marty’s objective and Robby’s leadership. However, there are many obstacles along the way. It is evident from the beginning that many want this story squashed (it has been several years since many of these accusations were made, and the statute of limitations on many of these has passed). Still, witnesses are willing to come forward who are extremely upset with the media (including The Boston Globe) because they had reported these accusations 10-20 years ago, and nobody did anything about it. There are also people like Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones, Margin Call) who will rub you the wrong way when you first meet him, and you think he might be hiding something, but it turns out he might be the most caring actor in the whole movie. He fights for the victims’ rights, and you can tell he’s beaten down by the hours he puts in, the lack of results he’s hoping to find.

Another part of what made this movie great was when the Spotlight team had enough of a story to expose these corrupt priests, who not only hadn’t been brought to justice but also seemed to have gotten off scot-free for their misdeeds. Marty said not to publish yet because there was a much bigger story. The story was not about exposing individual priests. It was about going after the people who were protecting them and moving these accused priests from one situation to another in an attempt to protect the church. Much credit to guys like Marty Baron, Walter Robinson, and others for not backing down in the face of adversity and breaking this important story that ultimately served as the template for exposing child-molesting priests from Catholic cities all over the world.

This movie features outstanding performances. Director Tom McCarthy (Win Win, The Station Agent) really stepped up and delivered, in what is his biggest film to date. The care given to those they are interviewing shows a sincerity that you would hope a reporter would have. Ultimately, this movie succeeds due to its acting and the concept of telling a story through a newspaper that has become obsolete. Nowadays, anyone and everyone with a phone or access to a computer can be a reporter. You can break the news on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. Often, that information isn’t entirely accurate. Worse, there are no consequences these days for average Joes like you who post whatever they want to

I’m not sure if this movie will make my 2015 Top 10 list. But it’s got a spot right now. There are lots of great films yet to be released. I recommend this to anyone over 25. It doesn’t need to be seen in the theater, but it’s worth seeing sometime before awards season, just in case it earns some nominations. Great movie.

Plot 10/10
Character Development 8.5/10 (Did these characters grow? I’m not sure. Maybe Keaton’s character, to an extent, and some of the side characters…unfortunately, there were so many characters in this film that we didn’t get a chance to know them outside of work.
Character Chemistry 9/10 (The leads fed off each other well)
Acting 9.5/10 (top-notch)
Screenplay 9/10 (I will say that there was a long list of names…the accused, the defendants, the lawyers, etc…you likely won’t be able to remember who is who, which is sort of frustrating, but it doesn’t take away from the story)
Directing 10/10
Cinematography 8.5/10 (It felt a little more like the late 80s/early ’90s than 2002 to me)
Sound 9/10 (Soft background sounds aid the ambiance between the numerous scenes in this movie)
Hook and Reel 9.5/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
92.5%

A-

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