Spotlight

Set in the early 2000's, Spotlight follows a team of investigative journalists working for the Boston Globe as they look into claims that a local Cardinal knew that a priest was committing child molestation and did nothing to stop it. Spurred on by the newspapers new editor, the team soon find out that the problem is much bigger than they initially suspected, and before long they are looking for hard evidence that many cases of abuse have been covered up by the Catholic Church, which has then simply reassigned abusive priests to other parishes where they can continue to abuse children.

It's one of the best "based on real life" stories I've ever seen, genuinely fascinating as it continues to develop and you learn more about the scale of the cover-up in question. Some very cursory research I have done indicates that the story in Spotlight is accurate to the way that it happened in real life. Nothing feels overly dramatised or unbelievable, the entire film simply moves forward slowly and methodically until the article is published. There is no big twist, no ridiculous melodrama, no romantic sub-plot - Spotlight simply tells the story as it happens, and in my opinion is all the better for it.

It is worth mentioning how good the main cast of Spotlight are though, which includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery and Liev Schreiber as the journalists and editors working for the Boston Globe, all based on real people. While Ruffalo and Keaton are both giving more obviously interesting performances (by which I mean taking on identifiable mannerisms and each having scenes in which their characters really get to display strong emotions), Tucci instead gives a very understated performance as lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, one that is focused on selling the reality of the situation and the resigned aspect of the character. I've been a fan of Tucci for some years now, and I don't think that is going to change any time soon - he simply never disappoints, and once again Spotlight proves how good he is in even the smallest of roles.

Spotlight may not be the most visually impressive or intensely thrilling film of all time, but that isn't what it is trying to be. Instead, it tells an interesting story with the use of some good performances, and although it may rely a little too heavily on the strength of that story it never loses its sense of purpose, and as such it carries us through with ease.