The Truth Goes Public

I thoroughly enjoy movies with an ensemble cast.  I love watching the chemistry between different actors, and also how their different methods of acting affect each other.  Spotlight is a wonderful example of this because it truly is an ensemble character piece in every sense of the word.

Spotlight is the true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered a child molestation scandal within the Catholic Archdiocese.  In my humble opinion, this movie is perfect in every way.  One of the keys to the brilliance of this film is the writing.  It is so crisp, and watching how each actor delivers their dialogue is truly amazing.  The chemistry between all of the actors is special because you really feel like the Spotlight team is more than just a newsroom; they are a family.  We also see what each individual reporter's life is like away from the office, and that adds another important dimension to each character.  The city of Boston, as well as the Boston Globe, are very much characters of their own in the movie.  One would think that a movie involving a bunch of news reporters would get boring, but a major reason this movie is great is because of the writing.  This is a landmark masterpiece of a movie, and I cannot wait to watch it again.

Spotlight is stacked with a stellar cast, but for me the standout is Mark Ruffalo as Mike Rezendes.  Rezendes is a man who feels very passionately about reporting this story, and we see that come through in Ruffalo's performance.  The way he delivers his lines perfectly conveys his sense of urgency to get this story out in the open and I even teared up at times, particularly in the scene where he goes off on Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton).  I personally believe that, at times, Ruffalo can be an underrated actor, but his bravura performance in this movie shows how talented he is.

Tom McCarthy is the director of Spotlight.  I mentioned before that the writing is one of the major reasons this movie is great; the other is the directing.  I loved the way the camera moves inside the inner workings of the newsroom, and watching all the different character moments cut back and forth with one another lends a great pace to the movie.  As I said before, the city of Boston is very much a character in the movie, and looking at the different cityscape shots makes you understand how much Boston is affected by this news story.

Spotlight is a truly wonderful film that details an important story.  The fact that Michael Keaton is now one of the few actors to appear in back-to-back Best Picture winners speaks volumes about his talent.  If you have the opportunity, I highly suggest seeing this incredible film.