Well paced and interesting, even if it's not overly entertaining.

Rating: 9/10 (3 May 2016)

This is a movie that pretty much everyone of high school age or older should see. For some who know or are victims of the abuse investigated, I know it might bring up some bad memories and emotions, so I respect if you don't want to see it. Regardless, it's definitely a noteworthy story even if it isn't the pinnacle of entertainment. Showing it from the perspective of the Boston Globe was definitely a good idea because the nature of the research the reporters have to do allows all aspects of the problem to be examined. And as shown, there are a lot of aspects to it.
I was very young when the actual story was published so I can't speak for how things were then, but it seems like most people knew that this sort of sexual abuse was going on and just didn't want to acknowledge it. The Spotlight team in the movie tries to get people to talk about it by removing some of the myths surrounding the issue. Throughout the movie we see how they disprove the myth that the incidents of abuse are isolated, that they are infrequent, that it is only the fault of the individual priests, and that the incidents should be swept under the rug because of the good that the Catholic Church does. This last one seems to be the most persistent of the myths today and the one that the movie is trying to disprove. It is true that the Church has made some amazing positive changes to the lives of billions of people since its beginning, but the fact is that it is run by imperfect people. Spotlight seems to be saying that by showing these imperfections and by the Church admitting to them, the Church can better do its job and bring hope to people.
The couple of victims that are interviewed show what happens when nothing is done about the issue. The team recognizes the seriousness of this in their insistence that the victims not use general terms like "molested" when telling their stories because that sort of thing won't get their readers' attention. The first victim interview with "survivor" Phil Saviano was the point where the issue sort of became real to me and I think the same goes for the characters. He and the other survivors talk about how they were spiritually scarred by their experiences. All the priests mostly abused poor, fatherless kids, which probably meant that faith was pretty much all the kid had. So molesting them destroyed what was probably their only remaining source of hope.
I know that there are probably some concerns about certain institutions or people being portrayed offensively. I didn't find that this happened much. It certainly doesn't target the Church as the sole cause, giving lots of time to the lawyers and even Globe employees that helped keep the stories silenced. All of the reporters are shown as hardworking, but not heroic. I suppose the priests that we actually see are shown as sanctimoniously deceptive, but that is sort of the issue. We aren't as shocked when we hear about cops or coaches raping innocents because they aren't breaking vows of celibacy or expected to be a model of morality to everyone they meet. The lawyers are probably the most demonized group, probably because their excuse that they were just "doing their job" seems rather cowardly. The only thing that I saw as offensive was a line from the gay victim that Sacha interviews. He's not portrayed as inferior or weird or anything like in some comedies, but there's one point where he comments on a lawyer being handsome. This line might have been fine if it were a clue to his being gay, but it comes long after that point is established.
The acting is quite solid from everyone. The actors keep the focus on the story, but the characters still feel like real and distinct people with a little depth to them. The script had a lot of strong points especially in keeping a good pace to what could have been a very boring story and helping the audience remember all of the characters. There are several points where a character is mentioned while they aren't on screen, and then shown in the very next scene, which I found very helpful in keeping track of the numerous characters. Even setting up one scene in a dark and smelly basement was a great way of showing how much work went into covering up the scandals. The dialogue feels realistic, but also holds tangible conflict and tension.
I would recommend this to all Catholics, though I know some will feel that the existence of this movie and the events it portrays are sinful. That aside, it has some great commentaries on how all of us in America do our jobs as opposed to how we maybe should. I know I might get some hate for saying this, but I think there are more solid messages here than in most of the media that promotes Catholicism. Just to dissuade a couple more possible deterrents, this hardly ever gets slowed down by its basis on a true event and does not have many of the drawbacks that most biopics and event based movies do. Also, do not go into this with a "kick back and relax" mentality or expect to be entertained. Overall Rating: 8.5/10.