Spotlight: A Contemporary Classic

When the Best Picture nominees came out, I had to familiarize myself with Spotlight, a little film (with a huge cast) that seemingly emerged from nowhere during awards season. The narrative, which follows a team of Boston Globe reporters hot on the case of the Catholic Church sex scandal, is nominated for six Academy Awards, including: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. At the time of publishing, this writer had seen half of the Best Picture nominees (and was quickly trying to crank through the other half), and I can easily say that Spotlight has just bumped Brooklyn as my personal choice to win Best Picture... predictions are a different matter that’s still The Revenant.

‘All the President’s Men'

Almost immediately, I found myself drawing parallels between Spotlight and the feature which still stands as the standard for all crusading, muck-raking journalism films, All the President’s Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976). Visually, the two movies share a number of similarities. Showing newspaper print journalism in its' most traditional form, Spotlight's primary set piece is the Boston Globe newsroom, which bears striking resemblance to the Washington Post newsroom where the earlier film was set. The stacks of documents, the open cubicles and the harsh florescent lighting in Spotlight all show journalism in its' most idealized sense. The reporters comb through library stacks, they do battle with the court system over sealed records, and go out into Boston to interview the victims, incredibly reminiscent of what Woodward and Bernstein go through in to crack the Watergate scandal in All the President’s Men. This is old-fashioned print journalism at its’ finest.

The city of Boston is very much a character in Spotlight. The script by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy is packed with emotional and powerful writing about the relationship between class and religion in the neighborhoods surrounding Boston. In a number of the victim interviews, the characters emphasize the difficulty in speaking about the Church’s abuse, due to the important role religion plays in the city’s poorer communities. The large amount of time the script spends following the newspaper reporters (usually door to door) through Boston’s suburbs plays a vital role in further developing the conflicted and layered relationship between the Catholic Church, the law, the news media, and most importantly the people of Boston.

The performances by the large (and A-list) ensemble are solid. Michael Keaton (2015’s Best Actor winner), Mark Ruffalo (Best Supporting Actor nominee), and Rachel McAdams (Best Supporting Actress nominee) are all tremendously on point. John Slattery is his typical delightful self, as is Stanley Tucci. Upon watching the film, I was floored that there wasn’t more attention paid to Liev Schreiber’s portrayal of Martin Baron. Schreiber is an unsung presence in the film, giving a layered, but understated performance. As a newly arrived editor to the Boston Globe, Baron is not intended to draw the same focus as the very dynamic group of reporters; however, he plays an important role as the catalyst for the important news story, and as such is responsible for propelling the film forward.

I would highly, highly recommend checking out Spotlight, especially for fans of dramatic procedural. The film is a well scripted, well crafted work of drama, featuring a creative and talented cast at their peak. Hands down, this is one of my top films of 2015.

My verdict: Five/Five Stars.