Spotlight – a mini review

What’s it all about?

Spotlight is:

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Why did I want to see it?

The amazing cast. The importance of the story being investigated. I really like a good newspaper movie.

What did I think of it?

I thought this was absolutely excellent. It’s not a flashy movie by any means but tells its story in a clear manner so that the audience is not swamped in procedural detail (although there is enough of that to satisfy any budding investigate reporter) but gets the essentials of what could be a complicated story. The acting is superb from everyone involved, so it would be unfair to pick out any one individual, especially as there is only one shouty bit which of course gets hand to the lovely Mark Ruffalo, but I thought Rachel McAdams was very good and Stanley Tucci was as always great value. I also thought Michael Cyril Creighton’s portrayal of Joe, one of the abuse survivors, was really affecting (I just wanted to give him a hug every time he appeared on screen).

I think Spotlight should also be commended for tackling a difficult subject without actually showing any of the abuse, focussing instead on the impact on survivors, the silence of a community who turned their faces away because it was all so unbelievable, and the growing horror of the reporters as they come to understand the scale of the issue.

I shall be cheering this on at the Oscars in a few weeks time, and if you want a more in-depth review please visit Max Renn’s blog where he has written about the film here.