"If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one"

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2015)

The single most remarkable thing about this film is how it uses a confined scope to its advantage rather than otherwise, something that would only be possible in a docudrama of this sort. The makers of "Spotlight" were obviously seeking to avoid cheap sensationalism. There is no use of flashback, and the interviews with the now-adult victims are brief yet detailed enough to make their point. There is little showing of the pedophiliac priests, and the public outcry that followed the first exposures of the scandal in Boston and throughout the world is effectively limited to the after-notes. Yet, it as if you are the proverbial fly on the wall of the "Boston Globe" and flying along with their reporters on the street. While a film of this sort will never have huge mass appeal--which may in itself be several strikes in its favor--it's two-plus well-worth-it hours for anyone with a serious interest in the whole explosive affair within the Roman Catholic church. I was utterly entranced.
The details and complications are hard to completely follow on first view, and the sheer number of characters makes it difficult to place who's-who in some cases. That doesn't, however, conflict too much with the big picture. "Spotlight" is also quite revealing of the dilemmas and politics that take place within a newspaper office and its dealings with local VIPs.
Much of the success of "Spotlight" is, of course, due to the fine, fine quality of the acting and script. Special kudos to Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and all the actors who play the various victims. The subtle development of "characters" such as the cantankerous but obsessively dedicated and conscientious attorney Mitchell Garabedian (similarly well-played by Stanley Tucci) is also commendable.