Shine a Light

Rating: Null/10 (30 January 2016)

Based on the true story of how reporters at the Boston Globe shone a light on a culture of covering up child abuse in the Catholic Church, 'Spotlight' tells an interesting slice of modern history. It is remarkably riveting given that the outcome is well known as the film places us in the shoes of the reporters, unaware of just how a big a story they have. The film shows the emotional toll that the investigation has on the reporters; one wrestles with whether to tell his neighbours after discovering a possible predator priest living in his neighbourhood. Mark Ruffalo has the flashiest performance as the angriest reporter on the team, and the film gets some good thrills out of his struggles against bureaucracy to obtain incriminating public documents, yet Michael Keaton delivers the film's finest performance. As a born and bred Boston citizen, he finds himself internally divided and has some excellent moments near the end as he reveals a shocking twist about himself. The choice to focus on the reporters to almost the exclusion of the victims renders the film an odd experience though; the reporters seem more disgusted by the corruption of the Church than the actions of their priests and the psychological impact of child abuse. Never to mind, the characters are interesting enough that the film works as a tale of the power of a few motivated individuals to take on an institution and make a difference. Director Tom McCarthy uses gradual zooms in and out in all the office scenes to smartly prevent the film from feeling static and Howard Shore places the icing on the cake with yet another powerful score.