Spotlight

This film is a valentine to good old-fashioned, pencil and paper, pavement pounding, hard working journalists. The movie is barebones, non-glamorous with settings as plain as beerstains on a counter. Even the characters are presented as hard-working stiffs who are no fashion-plates (even lovely Rachel McAdams as Sasha is unconcerned about her wardrobe) Very seldom do we see any slips into melodrama. The reporters emerge as fully-drawn characters with their own faults and foibles and the script does not describe them as heroes. The suspense builds as the scope of the misdeeds by monsters in black suits and white collars and as the extent of the cover-up is unearthed. I don't know why-but somehow the appearance of names in a Boston directory and on Excel spreadsheets becomes an exciting experience. The subtleties and nuances in the story line lead to an understanding of why the criminal activity was hushed up in a tightly-knit community where a deeply entrenched religious institution wields so much power. The journalist/investigators possessed considerable courage in taking on these established entities and one can only imagine their mixed feelings since they were all raised as Catholics. The question is not whether this stellar film receives Oscar nominations but rather it is how many?