As a Roman Catholic who remembers all too well the horrendous revelations about abuse of children by priests in Boston, I dreaded the prospect of seeing this movie.
But Spotlight is an excellent film, directed with a sure hand by Tom McCarthy. The movie documents not only what happened in the Church abuse scandal, but also the lies that good people tell themselves to cover up the awful truth.
Spotlight is filled with an ensemble of fine actors (including Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Stanley Tucci) who should all get an award. I would like to single out for praise the muted performance of Liev Schreiber who plays the out-of-town Jewish editor who comes to Catholic Boston and stirs the hornets nest.
Spotlight delivers a knockout effect, but without flash or CGI or any pounding music score. It is a somber and quietly devastating film.
