Spotlight (2015) [Blu-ray]
Biography | Drama | History

Tagline: The true story behind the scandal that shook the world.

Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams lead a critically acclaimed cast in this gripping true story about the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation that uncovered a scandal that rocked one of the world's oldest and most trusted institutions. Delving into allegations of child abuse within the local Catholic Archdiocese, a tenacious team of Boston Globe reporters exposes a decades-long cover-up that reaches the highest levels of Boston's religious, legal, and government establishment. "Brilliantly acted and flawlessly directed" (New York Post) by Academy Award nominee Tom McCarthy (Best Original Screenplay, Up), Spotlight is a powerful and riveting drama the critics are calling "the All the President's Men of our time" (Los Angeles Times).

Storyline: When the Boston Globe's tenacious "Spotlight" team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston's religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Written by Open Road

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, February 19, 2016 2015 saw the release of two high profile films that take audiences inside the news room to tell the stories of how the stories were reported. First out of the gate in wide release was Truth, a film that goes behind the scenes of the "60 Minutes" special that, it was later revealed, wrongly painted a picture of then-President George W. Bush's military service in the Vietnam era. The film dealt with both the build-up to and the fallout from the story. Released to theaters only weeks later was Spotlight, Director Tom McCarthy's (The Visitor) picture that depicts how the Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team unraveled the deep-seeded and long-standing Catholic priest sex abuse scandal in an exposé that revealed the story to the world, shook the church to its core, and redefined the way many look at the church. Aside from their intimate examinations of the inner-workings of the 21st century news rooms, however, the films could not be more disparate. Where Truth stumbles every which way, Spotlight shines. With a more gripping narrative, sublime direction, awe-inspiring performances, and a vastly superior pace, cinematic vitality, sense of purpose, and technical craftsmanship, McCarthy's film is a pleasure to watch, even as it tackles incredibly difficult subject matter. It has earned several key Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), and Best Supporting Actress (Rachel McAdams).

The Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team -- Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton), Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d'Arcy James) -- works its own stories on its own timeframe, but when new Editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) arrives, he pushes the team to investigate a story centered on a lawyer named Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) who claims the church has covered up a sex abuse scandal. The team digs into the story and discovers that not only is pedophilia a problem in the local church, it runs rampant. The Spotlight teams pieces together firsthand accounts of longstanding abuse -- from one to several abusers, from several to allegedly 19, and from those 19 into a startling 87 in the Boston area alone -- and assembles a story that will rock the church to its core and redefine the public trust in it.

Spotlight's dramatic integrity is never sacrificed in light of its difficult subject, nor is its watchability ever interrupted by a less-than-honest approach. The film manages a delicate balance between tedium of the investigative process, the challenge of absorbing and sorting through the scandal's details, and holding not a traditional "entertainment value" but rather a connection with the audience that engages and absorbs the viewer rather than simply presents the story in all of its raw ugliness. Those are virtues that come thanks to every award for which the movie was nominated. It's thanks to the engaging screenplay that elevates the material above procedure, that paints the characters vividly, that ensures a flow of core story building highlight segments and a more personal response to the evolving narrative, as experienced both through the characters' eyes and the audience's experiences alongside them. It's thanks to a cast that doesn't simply repeat lines in costume but that approaches the material as if it means something to them, as if they understand not simply what they're saying and doing but why they are saying and doing it. The sense of personal connection, absorption into the investigation, team camaraderie, and legitimate acting skill in recreating the people they portray -- not simply a basic look or cadence but a tangible emotional resonance and involvement -- is astounding. That's thanks to editing that keeps it fresh and flowing, provocative and personal, watchable and engrossing. And it's thanks to a director whose skill may not be obvious in visual manipulations and machinations but who frames the story with a simple precision that only displays the heavy lifting, not carries any of the burden it need not heft.

Spotlight is an exemplary film. Supremely crafted, expertly performed, and skillfully cut, the movie proves the value of grounded, story-centered cinema in an age where visual effects and noise tend to dominate the scene. Universal's Blu-ray is unfortunately lacking a meaningful supplemental package to match the movie's worth, but video and audio are terrific. Very highly recommended.

[CSW] -4.4- Powerful movie, reviving investigative journalism and its best. The focus is on unveiling the continual sexual abuse by hundreds of predatory priests and cover-up of scandal by Boston Archdiocese in 2002. Some may say that it is shown too late, but now, 13 years later (as of the end of 2015), the central figure who was actively participating in the covering of children molestation, escaped from Boston and still enjoys comfortable life living in Palazzo della Cacelleria in Vatican. It proves that the Catholic Church instead of cleaning their own rubbish is waiting for eternal punishment.
--- Won 2 Oscars. Another 107 wins & 120 nominations. ---
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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