'Spotlight' - Movie Review

Spotlight Movie ReviewA Biopic DramaDirector Tom McCarthyCast Mark Ruffalo Michael Keaton Rachel McAdams Liev Schreiber John Slattery Stanley TucciRatingThe shameful abuse of young children by priests ordained by the Catholic church is no longer shrouded behind the ironclad cassock of structured religion All thanks to the elite investigative team Spotlight of the Boston Globe which went well out of its comfort zones to ensure that the guilty were shamed and eventually brought to book This film covers that story basicallyMark Ruffalo in a still from SpotlightNew broom editor Marty Baron Live Shreiber tasks the elite team with delving into decades long claims of abuse against the Catholic church And its not an easy search especially since religious restraints are as much a part and parcel of the hurdles encountered as physical ones Walter Robinson Michael Keaton leads the team consisting of three reporters Michael Rezendes Mark Ruffalo Sacha Pfeiffer Rachel McAdams and Matty Carroll Brian dArcy James while John Slattery plays Globe managing deputy editor Ben Bradlee JrThe entire churning begins when in an initial meeting with Robby Baron points to a recent Globe story about the Boston archdioceses shady handling of various abuse cases suggesting that it could well be the perfect story for the Spotlight team of a local paper to work on The journalists begin to uncover a massive network of sexual abuse and willful ignorance perpetrated by the Church within the city of Boston Its an explosive expose that has to face both political opposition and resistance ndashan influence leading back to the ChurchEventually On January 6 2002 Boston Globe subscribers were in for a shocker Their local paper headlines screamed Church Allowed Abuse by Priest for Years The longish story heavy on facts was written by Michael Rezendes and was followed by two more Spotlight stories on the same topic with more to follow The uproar unleashed from this expose was such that by December 2002 Cardinal Bernard Law the Archbishop of Boston apologized for shortcomings and mistakes while stepping down in disgrace The Spotlight team of course was a shooin for a Pulitzer a prize which they won in 2003 for their reportingTom McCarthys film basically tries to put together the entire sequence of events in untarnished fashion without much ambiguity or cosmetic affects glossing out the intentional realism on display Cowritten by McCarthy and Josh Singer the script is dedicated to bringing to the fore the oldschool model of reportage and the drama inherent in the story is mostly underwhelming in representation This premeditated restraint allows for the narrative to be entirely representative of the journalists perspective The sensationalist aspects of the expose are entirely presented in printed format and dialogue with the procedural aspects involving the slow and steady gathering of information painstaking corroboration of hunches and leadseventually leading up to the dawn of understanding about the sheer scale of the unforeseen epidemic theyve uncovered taking centrestageThe film may tend to the boring at times but if you are someone who pays close attention to the nuances then you are sure to be both gratified and fulfilled This film in fact highlights how even within the humdrum existence of routine we can achieve so very much Spotlight sheds light on the varying levels of psychological trauma brought on by abuse without spinning off into a melodramatic ordeal An expriest turned psychiatrist is an important informer and is the one to help reconcile faith with the abuse scandal All the actors here are firstrate putting on a welloiled ensemble that never takes a false step Faith in religion and its endurance in spite of the black mark of abuse is as much a part of the subtext as the expose itself You will need to tough it out if you want to reap its benefits