Spotlight - Movie Review

The new film entitled “Spotlight” is, without a doubt, the most predictably intense film of the last several decades. Just like another great journalism movie, “All the Presidents Men”, the story was already famous so we knew what was going to happen. But it still managed to introduce some of the most powerful suspense of all time. This simple stroke of genius is how you can tell a good movie from a great movie. Simply put, this is by far the best movie of 2015.

“Spotlight” is director Tom McCarthy's follow up to the horrendous comedy “The Cobbler” and stars a brilliant ensemble cast which includes Micheal Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci and Liev Shreiber. This film follows a team of investigative journalists (called Spotlight) that worked at the Boston Globe in the early 2000s. The film explores how the Boston Globe discovered and decoded the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. I tried to keep my description as vague as possible because this film is best experienced knowing as little as possible.

Getting right into it, this film is very descriptive. What I mean by that is that the film does not show anything; it describes it. Every single interview is told in the moment. There are no flashbacks. But it counterintuitively works. I always believed that showing something is more effective than describing it, but this film is the proud exception. The descriptions allowed the audience to stay in the moment and not be detracted with backstory. The acting was also great enough to grant such a risky move by the filmmakers.

I am not joking when I say that every human being in America and beyond should see this movie. Not only is the film perfect on the storytelling and technical standpoint, but the story that it successfully tells is very important and, because of the Church, not many people are aware of its existence and everybody should be.

There is a moment towards the end where the character played by Mark Ruffalo is observing the character played by Stanley Tucci comfort several young girls who were victims of sexual harassment by priests. The expression that Ruffalo gives perfectly captures the tone of the first two acts. He knows that there was nothing he could do about their ordeal, but he could not help but feel some guilt for his ignorance. That short scene is this movie.

Believe the hype that this movie has generated. If your friend tells you it sucks, give him the finger and never talk to him again because he is dead wrong. This movie is a masterpiece—beyond perfect.

When you go see it (I say when because everyone should proudly give their money to this work of art), know right off the bat that it is a dark movie, it is a suspenseful movie and it is a disturbing movie. But that shouldn't matter in this case. Its a film that you should see just to respect what these brave, AND CATHOLIC, journalists did in the name of justice. Go see this movie, I beg you.

I wish that I could give this movie a rating beyond five because it is the rare film that deserves it.

5 out of 5 stars