I expected way, way more based on this thing's online ratings. There's nothing earth-shattering going on here, just tons of dialogue and histrionics in a claustrophobic office setting. BORE ME. 5/10 and that's being generous. Watch The Keepers instead if you want a riveting, in-depth look at Catholic perverts.
shareYou missed half the movie. The Spotlight team used solid investigative work to prove the systemic protection of those who preyed on kids.
You missed them using the annual church yearbooks to follow what happened to certain priests and revealed more molesters?
Agreed. You have to appreciate investigative journalism movies to appreciate this film and be enamored by the processes of investigation. Personally, I love that shit.
shareThis was a TV Movie with swearing. Could have aired on HBO in 2005. The worst of 2000 + "Best Picture" winners.
shareLOL no, it's better than plenty of the post-2000 BP winners. I'd certainly put it ahead of Crash, Nomadland, Chicago, The Shape of Water and Moonlight. If I thought about it hard enough I'd probably bump it ahead of a few others as well.
shareInteresting take. At least everyone can agree that its ahead of Crash.
shareOne thing I really enjoyed about Spotlight was seeing the process of journalism as it was actually done, at least in the 90s. Trying to track down witnesses, long hours looking through old books, etc. I appreciated the inside look at the profession.
shareI can respect that.
... and still, better than Crash.
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I feel like that would make Spotlight a distinctly different film. The movie, at least on one level, is about the process of coming to understand a story gradually, piece by piece, as a case is built upon the many pieces of evidence that journalists use: historical records, legal files, witness testimony, and so forth. We, as the audience, experience the gradual formation of the truth of the story in the same way the real-life journalists did, essentially going on the journey with them (albeit condensed into a two-hour run time). Something that is initially uncertain becomes more and more likely as new evidence is stacked onto the initial foundation.
To show the abuse outright, and present it as an unquestionable matter-of-fact, would defeat the methodology of the rest of the film.
It is remarkable how they managed to take such a gripping topic and turn it into something so blandly acted, paced, scored and told overall.
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