A moving true tale with an on song ensemble

Rating: 8/10 (29 February 2016)

Calling Spotlight an enjoyable film would be wrong due to its heavy subject matter, but Thomas McCarthy's film is from the get-go an engaging and finely produced piece of filmmaking that aptly shines a light on a pivotal moment in journalistic history that changed the world's views of Catholicism for ever.
Based on a true story, Spotlight sees McCarthy somehow wash himself clean of the stench that was The Cobbler and dust off any fears we may've therefore harboured for him as a filmmaker to deliver his most ambitious and loaded film to date, that also sees him for the first time handle such a powerful story and pedigree cast.
Famous for intimate character studies such as The Station Agent and The Visitor, McCarthy forgoes his tendency to delve into characters over scenarios to focus his story directly into the Boston Globe newspaper's investigation into abuse cover up in the Catholic Church system. Doing so allows McCarthy to let the story take hold on the viewer and the enormity of the situation wash over us as we realise just what was being uncovered by these reporters, and without ever playing up situations for easy emotional pay offs, McCarthy delivers hits without an air of melodrama or cinematic tricks, no doubt aware that the material speaks for itself.
Saying that the story is the star player here would however take away from a finely tuned ensemble that's led by another great Michael Keaton performance and both a reminder of Mark Ruffalo's talents and Rachel McAdam's ability when given the right substances to work with, although her Oscar nomination feels somewhat strange. Each actor brings a subtle nuance to their incarnations and they act as another telling example of McCarthy's (an actor himself) ability to not only direct and write, but draw out excellent performances from his cast's.
Spotlight is an astutely crafted investigation procedural that never strays to far from what you'd expect from such a tale but with a winning script and a likable cast of performers it's a high quality production that could've benefited ever so slightly from a larger focus towards the cinematic.
In light of this however, Spotlight is a quietly powerful and sometimes devastating look at a topic that continues to be played out daily in far too many cities around the world.
4 foreboding church buildings out of 5