There’s something about an investigative team that gets audiences on the edges of their seats. Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight” is no exception.
Based on a true story, “Spotlight” follows the journey of a group of journalists from the Boston Globe while they investigate the magnitude of priest molestations within the Roman Catholic Church.
“Spotlight” begins with a scene in the Boston Police Division set in 1976. Inside, a priest sits awaiting a lawyer based on allegations of child abuse and molestation. The officers at the police division are keeping quiet about the allegations so that none of the big newspapers will get wind of the story.
Then, the scene shifts to the 2001 newsroom of the Boston Globe. The newsroom is saying goodbye to its current editor and hello to a new editor. This new editor, played by Liev Schreiber, quickly dives into the work at the newsroom. Here, the audience is also introduced to the Spotlight team. This team spends months, even years, investigating big news stories.
During the editor’s introduction to the news team, he quickly brings up the case relating to John Geoghan, a retired priest who had multiple allegations of child abuse throughout his 30 years as a priest. When the newsroom isn’t too interested in the story, he assigns the story to the Spotlight team, and they quickly set off to work on the story, not expecting the magnitude and impact the story will have.
The team spends countless hours researching at first one priest, then multiple. They quickly begin to uncover a pattern amongst the Roman Catholic Diocese in Boston. They uncover web after web, and soon begin counting up the priests involved, as well as the victims.
The team acts like real journalists, calling up every lead they get, going door to door to as many leads as possible and uncovering old musty books and records to get the information they need. The team also finds itself in a rut in places throughout the film, attempting to keep the story out of the public’s eyes, especially from a competitor newspaper.
Filled with on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments, “Spotlight” shines a light on all the behind the scenes action that journalists go through just to get the story, no matter how long or how many setbacks it may take to get the full story.
Featuring actors like Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Michael Keaton, “Spotlight” does not fail to quickly entrance its audience into the rollercoaster ride of the film. Combined with great acting and real life action, “Spotlight” deserves the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
“Spotlight” will most definitely provide an on-the-edge-of-your-seats movie night for Wittenberg students looking for a movie to rent.
