Acting and Film Making.

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2016)

A controversial message handled in an explicit way that put the audience in a position of full disclosure and believability. I believe it was Rachel McAdams in this film who said 'We're going to tell this story and tell it right'. Well Spotlight, you sure did.
Spotlight's actors were casted extremely well to say the least. Keaton, Ruffalo and Schreiber all provided believable and intense characters that each had very distinct personas and had me invested in the story. McAdams played her role well and provided a high level of refreshment as a female character who isn't fuelling the audience through sexual desire or relying on the power of a man. She's a professional in business clothing with an intellectual job and an admirable level of confidence. Hopefully her Oscar nomination will give some well needed exposure to a character who is an excellent female role mode.. I'm not going to be sour and cry about the fact that Keaton was snubbed, however. Keaton was snubbed. Dammit.
Spotlight is not just a story played out by actors, it's a 'film'. The subject matter at hand is extremely controversial in itself, so it wouldn't have been a hard task to take the screenplay and turn it into movie that didn't require much film making. Luckily, Tom McCarthy is a lot better than Adam Sandler and this wasn't the case.
As I could write an entire dissertation on the film making in question, I will boil it down to three simple points. Cinematography, editing and score. The cinematography, though no major scoping landscapes fits perfectly with the film, contrasted the chaotic investigative scenes with hand-held camera-work and the concrete efficient work environment's with static documentary style setups. The editing keeps up a great pace for a movie that could easily have turned into a blur of information without the right creative choices; edits were not done for the sake of it, they enhanced the elements of each scene. Finally, the movies score, composed by the ever brilliant Howard Shore, is both energetic and intense, keeping the audience's senses in tune with whats happening in each scene.
I loved Spotlight. The message and writing are ballsy, the actors are fantastic and McCarthy has done a brilliant directorial job. 9 out of 10.
Oscar predictions Best picture Directing Writing, original screenplay