Arts & Life, Film & Television

Review: ‘Spotlight’

Tenacity. Patience. Bravery.

Such are the characteristics of the investigative reporter as eloquently portrayed in Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight,” a fast-paced, voyeuristic perspective of what it was like to be a reporter in 2001 at the Boston Globe before and during the world-rocking, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into Catholic priests sexually abusing children in Boston.

“Spotlight” shines a light on the Boston Globe newspaper’s section called Spotlight, a highly covert news column, which consisted of a small staff including reporters Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Caroll (Brian d’Arcy James) as well as editor Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton).

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Released November 6.
Director:  Tom McCarthy.
Running time: 128 minutes.
MPAA rating: R.

4 stars out of five

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Supporting acts are a talented bunch, featuring Liev Schreiber as quiet, powerful editor Marty Baron, Stanley Tucci as sociopathic lawyer Mitchel Garabedian and Billy Crudup as antagonistic lawyer Eric Macleish.

What makes “Spotlight” so refreshing for audiences is its accuracy; we are shown every element of reporting, from testing interviews to arguing with lawyers. McCarthy is able to tell a harrowing story while avoiding sensational over-dramatization.

Even though we know that the bad guys get caught, McCarthy is able to keep us on our toes by creating natural shots of workflow with help from the landscape of Boston; we go with the reporters to city hall, poor neighborhoods and corner cafes.

And always we are flies on the brick walls of Boston.

We watch the Spotlight team sulk in the dimly-lit corridors of archives full of news clips and hunched over their coffees and pizzas as they scribble frantically into their notepads.

“Spotlight” is a testament to good reporting that doesn’t back down in the face of authority to get a story. It also reminds us that the First Amendment saves our backs more than we know, especially with handling legal documents like the Boston Globe Spotlight reporters dealt with.

Another important lesson that McCarthy teaches us with “Spotlight” is the importance of holding back a story from publication until it is right.

The performances in “Spotlight” remind us that journalists are not superheroes risking their necks every day for a good story. They are just doing their jobs. Eye-opening and educational, “Spotlight” reminds us that with grit and annoying persistence, we can get what we want.

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