Review: Spotlight BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE – 4.25/5

Meticulous. That’s the one word I would describe Spotlight, a well made drama chronicling the story behind one of, if not the worst cover-up of sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

The plot focuses on a pool of reporters working for the Boston Globe’s Spotlight division, a sector specializing in long-term, in-depth stories. At helm is Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (MICHAEL KEATON) who oversees Sacha Pfeiffer (RACHEL MCADAMS), Mike Rezendes (MARK RUFFALO) and Steve Kurkjian (GENE AMOROSO). When the paper receives a new editor out of Florida, Marty Baron (LIEV SCHRIEBER), who doesn’t share the same Boston loyalty as the others, suggests Spotlight drops their current investigation and go after the Catholic Church and their cover-up of priests moved from perish to perish after molestation charges and settlements off the books, which were negotiated by Eric Macleish (BILLY CRUDUP).

Despite the number of characters and a fairly intricate plot, it is a simple enough summary but where Spotlight stands out is with the writing from Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, a meticulous look at how journalism works which has a lot of leg work, hunting down sources and anyone reluctant you stay on it as demonstrated by the working relationship between Rezendes and Mitchell Garabedian (STANLEY TUCCI), a lawyer representing some of the Church’s victims, in the hopes of interviewing them. Meanwhile, Robinson gets in on the investigation which leads him to confront old friends played by television veterans Paul Guilfoyle (“CSI”) and Jamey Sheridan (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”).

There were a few things that kept Spotlight from being a phenomenal film, though I have zero qualms for it taking home the Best Picture award. For one, as good of a performance Mark Ruffalo gave, and I think he’s one of the better and perhaps underrated actors working today, his one scene (which was used for his nomination package) was way over-the-top and not nearly as powerful or dramatic as he, and I suppose, others thought it was. Don’t get me wrong, for the rest of the film, he was fine, great even, but that one scene screams “NOMINATE ME FOR AN OSCAR FOR GOD’S SAKE!” than anything natural. I felt Liev Schreiber turned in a better, and low key, performance that was worthy of recognition.

The second, I never quite found myself engaged. Yes, the story the movie is about, the cover-up of the sex abuse by not only the Catholic Church but those of faith within the Boston community who failed to speak up, media included, not to mention some victim family members, yet at the same time I wasn’t emotional invested. That being said, it’s a story that needed to be told and filmmaker Tom McCarthy — who is primarily an actor with only a few movies under his directorial belt (The Station Agent was his debut) — does a fantastic job telling it helped by the impressive cast.

The cast, outside of Ruffalo whom I already spoke of, each carry their weight. Michael Keaton has several great scenes and a character with a surprising revelation toward the end, Rachel McAdams continues to turn in quality work and is decent within the ensemble and Stanley Tucci in a smaller role plays an eccentric character yet also truly concerned for the victims.

In the end, Spotlight is a well made flick, worthy of its Best Picture victory. The performances were mostly well done and McCarthy’s direction nicely efficient putting together an entangled story that not only shines a light on the child abuse scandal but the methodical work that goes into journalism. This is a movie I have no reservations saying is worth watching.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.25/5

This release comes with a matted, title-embossed, slip cover. Inside is the regular DVD Copy and a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

Uncovering the Truth: A Spotlight Team Roundtable (6:33; HD) is an all-too-short featurette with the real-life folks as they recollect the story.

Spotlight: A Look Inside (2:30; HD) is a basic behind-the-scenes featurette with EPK interviews with the cast.

The State of Journalism (3:14; HD) – This is another short featurette made more to advertise the film than provide any in-depth insights.

VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 4.0/5

OVERALL – 3.5/5

Overall, Spotlight might not be at the top of my best of 2015 list but it’s still a well made film all around from the efficient direction, tight writing and brilliant performances (save for Ruffalo in the one scene) so I have no qualms with its recent win for Best Picture and say it’s well worth purchase or, if you’re still on the fence, a Redbox/Netflix rental. The Blu-ray itself is a tad disappointing; while the video and audio transfers were good, the bonus features were light.