Review: Spotlight

"If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one."

So states Mitchell Garabedian (played by Stanley Tucci), a lawyer who takes on cases specifically involving sexual abuse. In the case of SPOTLIGHT, Tom McCarthy's hard-hitting film about the 2001 uncovering of the scandal of the Catholic Church by the Boston Globe's special project team, Spotlight, they are papal pedophilia cases. Sure to be in the running for a Best Picture come Oscars season, SPOTLIGHT slowly rises in intensity, culminating in a smart, provocative snapshot of a piece of Boston's history.

When the Globe is bought out by the Times, a new editor comes in (Liev Schrieber) -- Marty Baron, a Jewish man with an outsider's perspective -- who asks the Spotlight team to take on a project investigating claims that Cardinal Law, the Archbishop of Boston, is covering up sex abuse cases in the Church by relocating guilty priests instead of putting them out of commission. Leading the team is Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton), with Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d'Arcy James) filling in the rest of the ranks. But as they begin to chip away at the evidence, the number of cases grows larger and larger until the Spotlight team finds themselves trying to nail not just Cardinal Law, but the system.

The question arises: how has such a massive cover-up been in existence for so long, with no one making any moves to prevent it? The beginning of the film seems strictly journalistic -- right from the Spotlight team's introductory scene, eating cake and talking shop in the office, it is clear that they are serious about their job, dealing with the cold, hard facts to get a story that people will be interested in -- but as the plot continues, their opportunistic drive slowly transforms into a need for justice as they become emotionally invested in the story. Keaton and Ruffalo give striking performances in this regard, on opposite ends of the spectrum: Ruffalo plays the eager, nosy journalist whose thoughts and emotions are at the forefront, aiding him in his job and allowing him to process, while Keaton plays a man who keeps his emotions locked away, mulling over the consequences of the situation alone until he sorts them out. McAdams and James also give solid performances, as do Tucci and John Slattery, who plays Ben Bradlee Jr.

SPOTLIGHT is a riveting story that packs a punch; make sure you don't miss it. Now playing at the Midtown Cinema!