I am a
40-year-old man, but it is not often that I think of myself as a real
adult. Sadly, an even less frequent
occurrence is an outing to the movies that rewards me with the proper respect
due someone of my age. It is with that
in mind, then, that I must take a moment to stand and applaud Spotlight, the story of a team of Boston
Globe reporters tasked with uncovering the widespread child sex abuse and
systemic cover-up of which the Catholic Church was guilty. More than any other movie I saw in 2015, Spotlight had the decency to assume its
audience was comprised of thoughtful, mature adults, capable of consuming,
understanding and appreciating a serious story without being talked down to,
distracted or titillated.
Before I
continue praising Spotlight, please
understand that this is not a “get off my lawn” screed meant to attack all the big
budget “event” movies based on pre-existing properties and inhabiting cinematic
universes. I am not one to turn my nose
up at superheroes, monsters, wild action, jump scares, gross-out humor, or
good, old fashioned sex and violence. Used properly, as they often are, any of those elements can thrill and
delight me. (If you think I didn’t get chills watching Godzilla spit fire in
2014, you are sorely mistaken.) However,
based on the popular movie landscape, it seems as if Hollywood believes that
these features are the only means of appealing to viewers. Spotlight
is a wonderful reminder that there are other ways.
In the span
of the film’s 128 minute run time, not a punch is thrown nor a shot fired. Nary a breast is exposed, nor a kiss
shared. At no point does a supernatural
being intervene, and the Earth’s existence is never threatened by interdimensional robots. Yet there is tension and excitement
throughout, and the gravity of the situation is conveyed expertly.
At its core,
Spotlight is about people at
work. The job, investigative journalism,
is not glamorous. In fact, it can be
downright tedious, and the film is not afraid to display that tedium. However, the work is important and those
doing the work are dedicated and tireless. That is what drives this story, the reporters’ determination to keep
grinding away, knowing that they are onto something massive. This team can uncover and end a cycle of
abuse and secrecy that victimized thousands, but any misstep could mean being
discredited by the Church and allowing the abuse to continue unexposed. The stakes are high, but the film trusts us
to understand that, without resorting to gratuitous scenes of traumatic abuse, sneering
villains or moral speechifying. The
small details (the face of a victim recounting his story, the quiet pauses in a
meeting about how the team should proceed, the particulars of a phone call, a
list of names on a sheet of paper) carry great weight here, each building upon
the one before it to create something of utmost significance.
The actors
are all also doing powerful, understated work. No one’s performance screams, “Hey, look at me, I am doing so much
ACTING!” Instead, Spotlight’s core group
of Michael Keaton, Brian d’Arcy James, Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo deliver
characters that feel lived in. They
express intelligence, fatigue, excitement, anger, and compassion in ways actual
people might, rather than as actors hoping for awards. These are actors that, with the help of a
smart script and direction that refuses to supersede the story, are doing their
jobs, quietly yet very effectively, just like the reports they portray.