SPOTLIGHT: A Remarkably Realistic Portrayal of Journalism

More so than not, it seems that movies based on actual events have a tendency to romanticize their stories. Or, in the hopes of emotionally prodding their audience, they present an overly sappy version of those events. Thankfully, Spotlight doesn’t fall victim to either of these two trends.

By simply presenting a true story in its most raw form, it ends up being an entirely believable portrayal of one of the most important cases of the past 20 years.

Balanced, Yet Emotional

Spotlight is about the investigative team of the same name, residing at the Boston Globe. The four-man (and woman) team divert their attention from daily news and only work on the most significant and impactful cases. From 2001 to 2002, that case is the Catholic church sexual abuse scandal, which concerned not only the priests involved but also the archdiocese of Boston, which was involved in covering up abuses by dozens of priests. By the conclusion, the true enormity of the case is revealed, to troubling results.

Though Spotlight seems like the type of film that could have been manipulative, considering its subject, it is surprisingly well-balanced. There is a careful blend of journalistic work and interviews with victims, which gives plenty of time to react between some of the more disturbing stories. Even when the victims’ stories are told, director Thomas McCarthy thankfully doesn’t do anything to try to further provoke a reaction from viewers.

There is not even any background music in these scenes; instead what we are presented with is simply the truth, where a victim speaks his story and a journalist tries his best to get the details from them. It can be upsetting at times, but by presenting this in such a blunt fashion McCarthy allows the stories to speak for themselves.

As a transition between either journalistic work or interviews with victims, the city of Boston is often presented, with all of its people going about their normal daily lives. In particular, children are shown, either running down streets or playing on playgrounds; blissfully unaware of the horrific activities that go on behind closed doors. Such emphasis shows just how unfortunately ignorant the world was of the Catholic church abuses at the time, and just how important it was for the spotlight team to present their story.

The Scandal of the Decade

Though I was younger at the time, I remember hearing about the Catholic abuse scandal cases in the early 2000’s. But it wasn’t until seeing Spotlight that I realized the full extent of them. These abuses have been going on for decades, involving priests and the archdiocese as well as lawyers, who profited from the payout settlements that the church would give to the families of victims.

Spotlight is also remarkable in that it does not paint the Catholic religion in its entirety as this dark entity. There are even attempts to provide explanations for why these abuses happen, without making it seem as if the church itself is evil – it is the specific people that committed these acts or attempted to cover them up that are immoral.

After all, the church has long-since been punished for this behavior, and for this reason I don’t believe that Spotlight was created with a hugely biased agenda. This is, at its core, a story about journalism.

The News Team

Spotlight was only ever going to be as good as its actors. The cast includes Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, and Brian d’Arcy, among others. Such a wealth of talent is sure to present opportunities for awards, but two performances stand out chiefly among the rest: that of Keaton and Ruffalo.

In the last couple of years, Michael Keaton has made a sort of comeback, especially with last year’s triumphant almost Oscar-winning role in Birdman. Whereas in that film he played an eccentric, though, here he is much more measured. As the charismatic head of the spotlight team, Keaton is a strong, calm presence, and has perhaps the most noticeable arc in the film. By the conclusion, after working tirelessly on the obviously emotionally-draining case, he appears to have lost all of the bright spirits that he possessed at the start.

Though Keaton gives an admirable performance (as do all of the actors, for that matter), it is perhaps Mark Ruffalo that leaves the most impact. In the past, I had never seen Ruffalo as more than just a leading protagonist that you would find in either a rom-com or in the Avengers films.

Here, though, he gives a performance that you would more likely see from a character actor, and for some reason I kept thinking of Joaquin Phoenix in The Master. Perhaps it is because the two have very unusual physical tics – here, Ruffalo is awkwardly goofy, with some odd facial expressions and a very straightforward, to-the-point manner. He is also given some of the more emotionally engaging scenes, which will perhaps help Ruffalo gain that slight edge over his castmates come award season.

Conclusion

Spotlight is the type of film that will likely engage audiences, at least those that can handle its sometimes upsetting material. The film delves into the famously controversial Catholic church scandal of the early 2000’s, but it also manages not to tread too far into sentimental territory.

In the process, it brings out some of the more impressive performances of the year with its ensemble cast, especially that of Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo. Overall, Spotlight is among the more captivating looks at the very interesting and unique world of investigative journalism.

What did you think of Spotlight? What are some of your favorite journalism films? 

Spotlight will be released in the US on November 20, and in the UK on January 29, 2016. For more information on international release dates see here.