All The President’s Men set the movie standard for investigative journalism. Since that feature, there have been several decades of movies about reporters, some good, many bad. Spotlight is a worthy successor to the gold standard. About uncovering the pedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church in Boston, Spotlight gives investigative journalists a love letter people can rally around and be proud of.
Boston is a proudly Catholic city, so as you can see this story is not exactly easy for the Boston Globe. Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) wants this published badly, since he is personally invested. He tries to get info out of Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci), a lawyer who defends the victims of the sexual abuse. Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) talks to victims and Eric Macleish (Billy Crudup), a lawyer who defends the priests. Also, Robby Robinson (Michael Keaton) and Ben Bradlee Jr. (John Slattery) spar with their new boss (Liev Schreiber) about the value of the department.
Spotlight is great when investigating. The journalists track down lead after lead, some heartbreaking, some revelatory, some dead ends. Writer/Director Tom McCarthy knows how to build tension very well. Tracking down information is inherently dramatic, and each little piece of information changes the bounds of the scandal and the chances of publishing a game changer. In addition, McCarthy weaves in the issues with the Boston Globe management. These issues provide some immediacy for publishing the story before it is ready, further raising the stakes. Each new segment changes the stakes and elevates the tension that drives Spotlight to great effect.
The movie also has a great sense of time and place. Spotlight’s Boston is a very insular big city. While the city seems religious and pleasant on the surface, there is a rotten and violent undercurrent of pride and code the world wants kept private. These journalists threaten that world, and it lashes out in sometimes vicious and unexpected ways. Also, the era of Internet journalism is right on the horizon. Spotlight’s management team is already starting to gut the paper, so that pressure of new realities also is felt deeply in the reporters while they work on their story. This specificity makes Spotlight’s investigation more meaningful were it just a generic take on investigative journalism.
Spotlight’s cast is pretty impressive, but they all take a backseat to serve the overall story. Among the cast members, Mark Ruffalo gets the big Oscar moment, but Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup, Michael Keaton, and Liev Schreiber are as good subtly blending in and adding to the story. Special credit goes to what I assume are real life victims who came on to tell their story. Well done.
Spotlight’s material is bleak, but its story is very optimistic. Journalists everywhere will look with honor at how necessary their profession is to the world of Spotlight, which is basically the real world. I for one love investigative stories and programs, and thank these storytellers for speaking truth to power.