Well assembled ensemble

Rating: 7/10 (15 March 2016)

As we know Spotlight pulled off something of an upset at the 2015 Oscars by winning for Best Picture. It might have not been my first choice, still it is a good film dealing with a most distasteful subject, molestation by Roman Catholic priests of minors.
For centuries the priesthood has been a refuge for closeted gay men who were then never questioned about their lack of interest in women. Then along came Stonewall and gay liberation and chances undreamed of for gays to live openly. So there was no longer a need to enter the priesthood. That caused a lot of vacancies and to this day the Catholic Church has never filled all the openings.
Secondly celibacy is just one insane requirement. Back 1000 years ago when it was introduced we never knew about libidos and sex drives. For some with low or no sex drive it's no big deal. But some of us have needs. Put it together you have a recipe for pedophilia.
Not that this wasn't known. Back in my younger days I knew a family that numbered a priest among a few brothers. This individual while an ordained priest ran for NYS Assembly. But one day we heard he was transferred to a new parish on an Indian reservation in the southwest. That was a favorite dumping ground for priests from the New York Archdiocese who got caught and were in too many parishes. Cardinal Francis J. Spellman's favorite exile place.
Maybe Cardinal Bernard Law if he knew about what Spellman did he might have put off what happened to his Archdiocese in Boston. This all started with the expose of one Father John Geoghan who was transferred to many parishes in the Archdiocese after it got out he had a taste for young boys.
What the team of investigative reporters from the Boston Globe did was tell the wider story and the film is their search for evidence. The film is always compared with All The President's Men and how the Washington Post broke the Watergate story. One big difference is that a couple of high powered box office names in Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford led the cast. No big names in Spotlight's cast, just a well assembled ensemble.
In fact two of the cast Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively. You might well ask the question, who were they in support of?
Spotlight is a good film, not a great one, but it has a few moments. One that is unforgettable for me is Rachel McAdams on the trail of her story going to the house of a former priest. If there were an award for brief significant performances category than Richard O'Rourke as the defrocked priest would have got it for that year. Watch Rachel's reactions as O'Rourke who is so clearly not emotionally developed starts talking of his experiences. Then he's cut off from McAdams by his sister played by Nancy Carroll who is protective of her child like brother and orders her off the premises. That scene told you a lot about many who went into that vocation.
I don't think the great film on the subject has yet been made. But Spotlight will do until it is.