Movie Review: Spotlight

4 stars out of 5

You’ve got a fairly talkie movie here on a topic that is, for most of us, a given — that a lot of priests have taken advantage of little boys. Early on, I was even wondering if the subject might be better served by a documentary. But the cast and crew are stellar, and the result is one of the best films of the year.

Spotlight is directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy, which is pretty much a guarantee of both quality and humanity. If you’ve never seen The Station Agent, I urge you to; it’s one of my all-time favorites. And that Win-Win was no slouch neither. Yes, I know, I need to see The Visitor. Urger, urge thyself!

Another really compelling thing the movie has going for it is the moment in history it captures. It’s 2001 and the Internet hadn’t totally devastated the newspaper biz yet, but it already wasn’t looking good. So it’s fascinating to watch this story in 2015, when more and more papers are struggling to stay afloat, and even the most respected titles are resorting to “soft” news. (I’ll readily admit to enjoying those TV recaps in the Times.) So we have to wonder: Is true investigative journalism, as displayed here by the Boston Globe‘s Spotlight team, a relic of the past?

There’s also a very strong sense of place here. Now, it’s very easy to overdo it in movies about Boston, but McCarthy successfully walks the tightrope, keeping it both genuine but subtle. (Miraculously, they only say “Southie” ONCE in the entire film.) The script conveys the powerful influence of, and tendency to close ranks within, the city’s Irish-Catholic community. It also deals with the disregard and suspicion of so-called outsiders (Armenians, Hispanics, etc.), even if they are just as much part of the fabric of Boston as anyone.

Liev Schreiber, as the Globe‘s new editor, gets to personify all these things. He represents the changing business model of newspapers (but also provides the spark to begin the church sex-scandal investigation), and is a classic outsider as a (gasp!) Jew from D.C. and (double gasp!) New York. McCarthy gets strong performances from Schreiber, Rachel McAdams (as one of the reporters), Stanley Tucci (good lawyer), Billy Crudup (excellent as a slick-jerk lawyer), and Brian D’Arcy James (reporter) who looks kind of like Will Forte and was in a play that my friend Carli really liked. John Slattery also does good work, but portraying a manager in an office, I kept thinking, “Hey, it’s Roger Sterling!” which was a little distracting.

There are two really top-notch performances: Michael Keaton as the leader of the Spotlight crew, and Mark Ruffalo as its most dogged reporter. Keaton’s character is old-school Boston, which he uses to his benefit for access, etc., but also makes him an easy target for those who would hope to rein him in. Keaton plays it expertly, as a guy you’d really want leading the troops, defending his people and making the tough calls. Ruffalo, meanwhile, gives a kinetic portrayal — he’s practically bouncing out of his chair. The enthusiasm and passion are fun to watch.

And of course, there’s the story itself. Yes, we all knew about priests and their indiscretions — but how far up the ladder did it go? Who knew but did nothing? The abuse of power and trust, and the preying on the most innocent and disadvantaged, adds a real sense of urgency to the proceedings. And yet, Spotlight shows us how true journalists need to be aware of that urgency — the Herald could scoop them, for god’s sake! — but even more importantly, must keep working to get the full story and get it right. In today’s world of push notifications and Breaking News alerts, it’s a really crucial lesson to remember.