The pinnacle of Investigative Journalist filmmaking

Rating: 10/10 (16 December 2019)

Taking the #1 spot in the list for my favorite films of the decade, this Best Picture winning film shines a light on the extraordinary investigative journalists who revealed one of the most disturbing true secrets that the church had been hiding for many years.
SYNOPSIS:
In 2001, the investigative journalist team, known as "Spotlight", for the Boston Globe gets tasked with digging deep into a potential scandal of the American Church keeping secrets and hiding child molesting priests. Though at first believed to be just a couple "bad apples", the further the team researched, the more they begin to realize that this unimaginable secret is actually being done on a much grander scale.
DIRECTION:
Tom McCarthy really knocks this one out of the park. Every angle is a song and every angle is keeping the right amount of pace while tracking every bit of body language coming off of the phenomenal performances. I've been reviewing many films that aren't asked for an extreme amount of effort on behalf of the directing and I'm compelled to say the same about this film. Despite feeling this way, McCarthy shoots this film in a very particular way where it's hard for me to explain. He is always capturing the right frame at the right moment and whether it's a wide, a medium or a close-up it is particular to a point of perfection. I couldn't imagine the editing nor the direction being any different. I don't want it to be any different. The extreme organization of this film is exquisite and regardless if you're familiar with the true story you're still very much discovering every bit of information along with them. Although I can think of several films of the sort, the only other film I can really compare the meticulous direction with is that of David Fincher's "Zodiac" (2007).
WRITING:
Every element of this film is damn near flawless for me and the same goes for the writing. As I mentioned in my review of Dark Waters (an also similar film including Mark Ruffalo), when writing a script that is inspired or completely based on true events, you can spot the films that truly do their research. Now, I don't know just how accurate this film is to all of the dialogue that was actually said nor do I know what level of investigation these journalists took on, but anyone can see that this film really dug as deep as it could. A story like this could be scary to tell, especially when it's dealing with an enormous entity like the American Church and so I give the writing and anyone participating in this film in general all of the props in the world.
ACTING:
I'm just going to name all of the noteworthy actors: Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liv Schreiber, Brian D'Arcy James, John Slattery, Billy Crudup, Stanley Tucci and Mark Ruffalo. Now there are others who played very small roles who were all spectacular, but for this film I really want to narrow this SPECTACULAR lineup to Stanley Tucci and Mark Ruffalo. Stanley Tucci plays one of the most incredible supporting roles to date. He was so integral to the story and every line of dialogue that came out of his mouth felt so true that I nearly forgot he is an actor and I know that's the job and that's how it's supposed to be, but in every scene that he was in I nearly felt I was watching a straight documentary with the real lawyer. He was unbelievable. Moving on we get to Mark Ruffalo. Without having seen all of his films, I can say without a doubt this is the best performance he has every given. It's one of the greatest performances given period. One could argue the best of the decade. Maybe this story is so close to his heart or maybe he just sparked unreal-like empathy, but I felt as though this story affected him to his very core. The emotion was so raw that the whole movie I wanted this story to get out just so I could see himself get closure. I wouldn't be surprised at all that even though Mr. Hulk has smashed through several Marvel films that this was his most emotionally and mentally draining performance he's every had.
CONCLUSION:
All in all, this film goes down as possibly one of my top 10 favorite films of all time. To take a story, entirely filled with dialogue and to keep my interest as much as a Domino's Chocolate Lava Cake, is speaking to significant heights. I can watch this film daily and still be sucked in just as much as the first viewing and the heart wrenching scene between Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo. Simply Impeccable. This is a recommend to absolutely everyone. I am a man of faith and for me to still enjoy this film as much as it does, I believe speak volumes.