Challenge of Faith, Beliefs in this Excellent Journalistic Piece

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2016)

After watching this wonderful film, I felt like Mark Ruffalo's Michael Rezendes character: "I really want to find a reason to come back." He says this in regards to being a lapsed Catholic who wants to find a reason to return to Church, but hasn't found it. In many ways, that's where I am in my faith and beliefs. I'm a lapsed/cultural Catholic who goes to Easter and Christmas mass, but other than that, really don't practice the religion, or any religion at all. There are many reasons for this, the child abuse scandal a factor in this, but I've wanted to find a reason to come back. I have to say after watching Spotlight, finding that reason might never happen again in my lifetime.
The movie is set in 2001. It follows The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team, a group of four writers who preach quality over quantity. They spend over a year on research and take a long time to write a story on a subject. Things change when the Editor-in-Chief at the paper retires and is replaced by Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), a Jewish bachelor from Florida who dislikes baseball. For as big and important of a city that Boston is to the country, it's very tight-knit in many ways and provincial, which makes Baron stick out like a sore thumb. He instructs the Spotlight Team to investigate the Catholic Church child abuse accusations, asking the team to take on a giant, in that Boston is a deeply Catholic city and the church has a big influence on everything going on. Walter "Robbie" Robinson (Michael Keaton) leads his team of writers in this new challenge, each of them a lapsed Catholic with deep roots in the city. Joining Robinson and Rezendes is Sacha Pfeffier (Rachel McAdams), a Midwest transplant from Ohio who has extended family in Boston and stops going to weekly mass with her Grandma due to this story and Matt Carroll (Brian d'Arcy James), a writer who left Catholicism to join his wife's church. Ben Bradlee Jr. (John Slattery) is the Managing Editor, trying to balance the team from not wasting too much time on the story while also hoping to impress Baron, who admits to looking at making cuts at the paper.
The story is dialogue heavy, no frills. There aren't side stories or love stories or really anything to make it "Hollywoodized". The battles are to get information from the many sources: the victims of the abuse, the Priests themselves, Cardinal Law, and the lawyers who were quick to settle with the church and victims. The characters and there relationships keep the story moving and interesting. Unlike some reviewers, I was never bored with the story. I got excited when they uncovered a new lead and I gasped when new facts were released.
All the characters were very well acted, but Ruffalo does an excellent job in his role. Rezendes has so much nervous energy and tension surrounding his interest in the story that you can't help but feel on edge every scene he is in. His rant at Robinson when the story hits a speed bump is strong and his monologue during the taxi ride is the best scene in the movie. I hope he gets serious Oscar consideration for this role, as he truly deserves it.
The movie will make you think about faith and beliefs, both in religion, as well as mass media. Both do a lot of things to make us have our doubts, but Spotlight shows us we need to think about the good as well as the bad and once we have all the information, we can make an informed decision.