2015
Directed by Tom McCarthy
I have finally gotten around to finishing my Best Picture series. I am not sure how I will organize the next few entries, but I am sure a weak theme is forthcoming.
Spotlight is the true story of the Boston Globe's Spotlight team uncovering the child abuse scandal and cover up that took place in the local Catholic Archdiocese. I had the statistic before and it still always shocks me: five percent of Catholic priests have been involved in "incidents" with children. That completely blows my mind, as it should.
Obviously, the content of this film is so compelling and disturbing that it is hard for me to focus on the more technical aspects of the movie. I am not sure they did anything particularly new with the genre; it was almost like they were too afraid to break out of the All the President's Men mold. I enjoyed the format (i.e. showing the more mundane aspects of a reporter's life, documentary style, not making the reporters out to be saintly heroes, etc) especially since I work at a newsroom (and have witnessed many Ruffalo-esque meltdowns). Like I said, though, none of this is new.
Still, this is a story that needs to be told and the content is more important than the style anyway. Recommended.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Did anyone else notice Michael Keaton pulling into a handicap space at the end? What a dick.
During the breaks from filming, Mark Ruffalo would ask the real Michael Rezendes to say all his lines for him.
Most of the Boston Globe reporters who uncovered the scandal were Roman Catholic.
Click here to see Stephen Fry's condemnation of the Catholic Church. If you can watch this without tearing up, you are stronger than me!
