The Subject Matter Is Noble But The Execution Is Unsatisfying

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2015)

Yet another film I've watched because it's a contender for the award ceremonies next year and you can see why . The Oscars have taken onboard movies with an indie feel over the last few years and with SPOTLIGHT we have a double whammy of a film based on true life events this time featuring The Boston Globe investigation in to child sex abuse and the resulting cover over decades in Boston , Get these prizes out now
Or on second thoughts put them away for the time being because SPOTLIGHT is something of a disappointment . Not so much a disappointment a film that doesn't really do anything radical in its sub-genre. Investigative journalism movies all suffer from the same structural problems along these lines:
Journalist A gets hold of a possible lead , gets pulled in to the editors office and is told "We can't run this"
Journalist B gets another lead on the same story , gets pulled into the editors office and is told by the editor "We can't run this" Journalist A and B work behind the editors back on the story and cut through every red tape obstacle in their path
Journalist c gets another lead on the same story ... you can see where this is heading can't you ? One thing the film does do well is explain to a secular audience the type of metaphysical power a Catholic priest has over a congregation but apart from that the rest of the film is curiously uninvolving and distant and one wonders if the acclaim it is receiving might be down to the subject matter rather than its cinematic credentials
As it stands SPOTLIGHT is yet another slightly unsatisfying film expected to win prestigious prizes . There's no doubt in my mind that the 2016 Oscars will be dominated by THE REVENANT . As with every year there's always a film at the ceremony that ends up close but no cigar where it gets several noms but no Oscar in any category . I think SPOTLIGHT or STEVE JOBS might have that dubious distinction next year
Update March 2016 . The academy got it wrong again