Spotlight is an engrossing film that shines a light on a deeply disturbing subject. Yet it's one that never feels exploitative or sensationalist in its approach. It unfolds slowly, in the spirit of classic journalism films like All The President's Men, with each new revelation leading to another and another. This is truly one of the better examples detailing, from all angles, the real life ins and outs of investigative journalism. Hours spent at the public library combing through records, getting victims to open up about their experiences, and navigating the muddy waters of power and corruption, all are handled expertly. The cast is also stacked, although it is here where I found the film's strict adherence to all things unflashy to be something of a drawback. Outside of one particular scene with Ruffalo, there aren't as many "actor's moments" as I was expecting, in fact, hardly any. In one way that could be seen as a plus, if taken as an acknowledgment of how seamlessly the actors embodied their roles as journalists. Yet with such a dialogue driven film, and with this cast, I was expecting a lot more acting fireworks. However, as a journalistic procedural and as a human drama, Spotlight is technically brilliant and utterly fascinating.
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Thank you for the most well written review ever! Hope you are putting those language skills to good use...