Smart, Gutting, and Grounded

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2016)

In 2002, The Boston Globe ran a series of articles covering a history of child molestation occurring inside the Catholic Church. It shocked the world, resulting in a Pulitzer Prize for the newspaper, while forever tarnishing the public perception of priests everywhere. The film Spotlight, directed by Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, Win- Win), recounts the story of the Globe's investigation, with a star-studded cast and a commitment to historical clarity. It is an extremely faithful procedural that offers a thoroughly intriguing, and sobering, dramatic experience.
The film's heroes are four journalists working for Spotlight, a small and specialized investigative team of the Boston Globe. Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Mcadams, John d'Arcy James, and Michael Keaton all give excellent performances as these team members, though excellent is just par for the course with Spotlight, as every role in the film is entirely convincing. Each character is given just enough believable depth to avoid dipping into cliché, an impressive feat when considering the size of this cast.
In fact, calling the members of Spotlight "heroes" doesn't seem appropriate, as they feel less like valiant white knights of a righteous cause, and more like actual people. They each have their own set of personal responsibilities to deal with, both familial and social, and do their best to not have it effect their work.
There is a great sense of place in Spotlight, and Catholic Church's authority in Boston is ever-present. A character early on in the film mentions that although the city's population is large, Boston is still a very small town, and the cinematography reflects this idea beautifully. Exterior shots will often times have cathedrals appearing in the background as a looming reminder of how integral and all-encompassing the Catholic Religion is to Boston. It may seem a bit obvious and trite, but one Google Maps search for "Boston churches" will net more results then "Boston Starbucks". This is not some underhanded attempt at symbolism, it would just be near impossible to find a shooting location in Boston where a church isn't in the background.
McCarthy seems intent on holding the film to a strict level of naturalism. All of the dialogue feels functional and direct, lacking the traditional levity expected in the prose of most major releases. There is a professionalism in the way people speak that goes far in establishing the authenticity of the newspaper office setting.
There's also a clear effort to show journalism in the sort of grounded, realistic way not found outside season 5 of The Wire. You aren't likely to see many eureka moments of revelatory discoveries, or impassioned speeches set to obtrusive score. Any swelling emotional moments are few and far between, and instead the film opts to portray the profession in a more genuine light, as a job. As the tedious and methodical collection of information, over a long period of time, that slowly accumulates into a big story. A nine-to-five trek that requires equal levels of passion and caffeine.
I'm worried that some might interpret this as a very dull approach for a feature film, but that's because Spotlight won't hold an audience's hand or accommodate any lack of interest. It doesn't so much demand attention, as much as it requires it. It's a film for adults. Not because it's rated R, but because it approaches its hefty topics with maturity and intelligence, and expects the same level of both from the viewer.