Spotlight

The 1994 movie Street Fighter is often dismissed as a dumb video game movie. In one scene, its character Dhalsim, paraphrasing Edmund Burke, said "when good men do nothing, that is evil enough." That phrase sums up half of why the Boston Archdiocese scandal was so devastating. That scandal is personified in Spotlight.

In 2001, the Boston Globe welcomes its new editor, Marty Baron. Its Spotlight investigative team is hard at work on its latest scoop. But Baron throws a new scoop on their desk. One of their other reporters covered the story of a Priest's unsavory activity across six parishes. Baron wants them to expand on the issue.

The members of the Spotlight team take up the scoop. They go through church records to find all the Priests on "sick leave." They interview the still-traumatized abuse victims and other involved persons. There were a lot of people who knew what was up but couldn't, or wouldn't, come forward. And it's Spotlight's job to illuminate their activities.

Director Tom McCarthy and his co-writer Josh Singer give the four Spotlight members their own part of the plot. Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Mike Rezendies (Mark Ruffalo) interview survivors while they struggle with their faith. Meanwhile, Rezendies struggles to get a hold of key documents. Matt O'Carroll finds himself a block away from the story. Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton) is the man holding them together. They all get decent screen-time and proper character development. Among the minor characters, Stanley Tucci as lawyer Mitch Garabedian stood out the most.

The screenplay will certainly outrage and darkly amuse you as the Church's transgressions come to light. You'll also pity those who couldn't come forward. It also humanizes certain people who wouldn't come forward. It also raises the issue that the crooked Priests were themselves abused. You'll definitely feel disappointment when the cycle of Karma Houdinis continues even after Team Spotlight exposes the scandal.

The technical crew also puts in equal effort. Production Designer Stephen H. Carter perfectly recreates the Boston Globe offices on screen. You wouldn't figure out that they were on a sound stage unless you were told. The music by Howard Shore is melancholic and memorable. The cinematography and editing, by Masanobu Takanayagi and Tom McCardle respectively, keep the serious mood going throughout its 129 minutes.

The end credits detail how many Church abuse scandals were exposed since Boston's. Let's just say there were a ton of them. Spotlight's focus is to remind people why they shouldn't stay silent when bad things happen. It was a very enlightening movie and worthy of the Oscar buzz it's receiving.