Spotlight: A Realistic Movie That Treats Both its Audience and Reporters with Repsect

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2015)

Spotlight is a remarkably well-written and phenomenally acted film that tells a shocking and disturbing true story that just floored me.
First of all, I went into this film not really knowing anything. I knew it involved the Boston Globe, that there was some sort of scandal with the Catholic Church, and that it takes place in the early 2000's. That's all I knew, and as the film unfolded before me, and revealed bit by bit of it's amazing, astonishing story, I was completely blown away by how incredible the writing and acting in this film was.
Tom McCarthy both wrote and directed this film, and he did a phenomenal job on both ends. What he did when writing this screenplay is that he didn't make the reporters who are working on this case heroes. He made them who they truly are; reporters who care about their jobs, who care about the story, who care about justice being served to the right people. He makes them incredibly human, and through this, these characters become very relatable to the people who watch this film.
A lot of the way that Spotlight tells its story is so subdued to the point of brilliance. Sure, this is an Oscar movie, but there really aren't any "Oscar scenes" in this movie, save for one scene in which a character has an outburst of sorts. These actors are really holding back their dramatic chops in this film. For example, when you here bad news, do you throw a chair against a wall and go into a temper tantrum? No. In this film, as this case builds, and builds, and builds to the point where you're amazed that this is a true story, the characters in this film simply shake their head, sit back, and say things that actual people would say, like "Oh my goodness," or "Wow This is not good." It's truly riveting stuff.
The entire cast in this film is spectacular. Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Brian d'Arcy James, and Stanley Tucci all do great work. Liev Schreiber is great in this movie as the new editor-in-chief at the Globe, and I loved seeing him in a more restrained dramatic role that I'm not accustomed to seeing him in. Michael Keaton is terrific in this movie, and I'm so glad that Birdman wasn't just a fluke for his career resurgence. He is truly subdued, and brilliant in this film. However, Mark Ruffalo is the standout in this film. He gives one of the best performances of his career in this film, and the voice he has in the movie really works with his character to the point where I didn't even see Mark Ruffalo. And honestly, that statement pretty much goes for every single actor/actress in this film, and that's because the story and the characters are so well-realized. And when you have well-known actors disappearing into their roles to the point where you don't recognize them, that deserves praise.
Spotlight is one of the best films of the year, and it deserves nothing less than that.