'Spotlight' Review (Keaton, McAdams, Ruffalo) (1 Viewer)

Yavin · Nov 13, 2015

A big hit for co-writer/director Tom McCarthy at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, Spotlight is now in wide release.

Here's my quick take on the film, followed by a link to my full review at the bottom:

Based on actual events, director Tom McCarthy's Spotlight is the story of what happened in the months leading up to the Boston Globe's explosive 2002 exposé of rampant child molestation within the Catholic Church, and follows the four-member "Spotlight" investigative team (Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Brian d'Arcy James) as they spend half a year interviewing victims and meticulously following the trail of evidence. Written by McCarthy and Josh Singer, the film is both a news drama and a compelling examination of faith. It's also a terrific ensemble effort, with a knockout cast that includes Liev Schrieber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Billy Crudup. Together, these eight actors make Spotlight — a film that centers on the extremely hard-to-watch topic of child abuse — extremely watchable. Which is not to say that the movie sugarcoats its subject matter in any way. It is, however, a testament to the talents of the filmmakers that the movie works — because like the real-life events that inspired it, this is a story worth telling.

My full review (4 out of 5).

Tommy R · Nov 13, 2015

My wife and I are excited to see this because Brian d'Arcy James, who is my wife's cousin's husband, has a supporting role in it. Seems like a great films anyways, and it's nice to see Michael Keaton in more films as of late.

Robert Crawford · Nov 13, 2015

I'm looking forward to watching this film next week.

TravisR · Nov 13, 2015

Robert Crawford said:
I'm looking forward to watching this film next week.

Me too.

Robert Crawford · Nov 13, 2015

This film has a great cast so I'm hoping the script and direction comes up to that acting level.

Tim Glover · Nov 13, 2015

Looks compelling. Brutal content but does look good.

TravisR · Nov 21, 2015

Robert Crawford said:
This film has a great cast so I'm hoping the script and direction comes up to that acting level.

It does. Excellent movie.

mattCR · Nov 21, 2015

Went to see this at an art theater last night. I'm really hoping it expands more, because this is a really great film. The script on this is fantastic and it has all the right level of tension. One of my top-5 easily this year.

Robert Crawford · Nov 21, 2015

It's not playing anywhere within 75 miles of me so I'm waiting on a more general release.

TravisR · Nov 21, 2015

^ That sucks. I thought this weekend was its expansion to more theaters. When I saw it, the theater was packed and it's a lock for multiple Oscar nominations so hopefully, it'll play in more places especially during Oscar time.

Colin Jacobson · Nov 21, 2015

Saw this tonight - liked it, didn't love it. Good cast, well-executed, informative and interesting, but it just lacked a certain zing that would've taken it to a higher level.

Maybe I expected "All the President's Men" quality, which isn't fair...

Robert Crawford · Dec 4, 2015

This fine movie still isn't playing in my area. The closest location is about 65 miles away so I might take a road trip tomorrow or early next week.

Lord Dalek · Dec 5, 2015

Colin Jacobson said:
Saw this tonight - liked it, didn't love it. Good cast, well-executed, informative and interesting, but it just lacked a certain zing that would've taken it to a higher level.

Maybe I expected "All the President's Men" quality, which isn't fair...

Funny... I thought that lack of so-called "zing" was the film's greatest strength. That it didn't over-sensationalize the subject matter and instead went for a more procedural feel.

But I guess that's just me.

mattCR · Dec 5, 2015

Yeah, I think one of the best things about this film is it was "just the facts, mam" kind of approach. It made the story seem far more ominous when you had the feeling that it was a "just the facts", instead of providing "zing" that made you question how accurate the story was...

In fact, from research post the film, it appears they may have undersold the abuse crisis, but the frames at the very end showing other communities that went through scandals covered a lot of that.

Robert Crawford · Dec 5, 2015

Colin Jacobson said:
Saw this tonight - liked it, didn't love it. Good cast, well-executed, informative and interesting, but it just lacked a certain zing that would've taken it to a higher level.

Maybe I expected "All the President's Men" quality, which isn't fair...

Actually, I can't agree with you as I think this is the best film I've seen in 2015. Wonderful writing, direction and acting. It was worth the 130 mile round trip journey to see it.

Colin Jacobson · Dec 6, 2015

Lord Dalek said:
Funny... I thought that lack of so-called "zing" was the film's greatest strength. That it didn't over-sensationalize the subject matter and instead went for a more procedural feel.

But I guess that's just me.

mattCR said:
Yeah, I think one of the best things about this film is it was "just the facts, mam" kind of approach. It made the story seem far more ominous when you had the feeling that it was a "just the facts", instead of providing "zing" that made you question how accurate the story was...

In fact, from research post the film, it appears they may have undersold the abuse crisis, but the frames at the very end showing other communities that went through scandals covered a lot of that.

I guess my use of the word "zing" is distorting what I meant. I didn't mean I wanted the movie "sensationalized" or made overly dramatic - I just wanted something that I thought took the story to a more engrossing level.

The movie was interesting and entertaining but I felt it lacked a difficult-to-define spark that the best movies have.

"President's Men" - which was just as dry and objective as "Spotlight", if not more so - had that spark and "zing". "Spotlight" doesn't, IMO. Solid B or B+ movie, not an A like "ATPM"...

Elizabeth S · Dec 8, 2015

mattCR said:
Yeah, I think one of the best things about this film is it was "just the facts, mam" kind of approach. It made the story seem far more ominous when you had the feeling that it was a "just the facts", instead of providing "zing" that made you question how accurate the story was...

In fact, from research post the film, it appears they may have undersold the abuse crisis, but the frames at the very end showing other communities that went through scandals covered a lot of that.

The list at the end was just chilling.

Thought the film was excellent and I expect to see noms for Keaton and Ruffalo. (Boy, has Ruffalo come a long way. I wasn't impressed with him in "You Can Count on Me", but he had fully won me over by "Zodiac". I even went to see the under-the-radar "Infinitely Polar Bear", which was a good role but had story issues.)

Patrick Sun · Dec 12, 2015

Script had good pacing, and the ensemble cast was solid as well. Maybe it was my local theater's projection quality, but the video presentation seemed a little fuzzy/soft to me.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

Robert Crawford · Dec 13, 2015

Patrick Sun said:
Script had good pacing, and the ensemble cast was solid as well. Maybe it was my local theater's projection quality, but the video presentation seemed a little fuzzy/soft to me.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

Yeah, I think it was your theater's issue as it looked wonderful where I viewed it.

Patrick Sun · Dec 13, 2015

Some of it looked like video framerate 30fps too.

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