The dangerous and hideous organization otherwise known as the Catholic Church gets the greatest cinematic middle finger ever possible with the gripping journalism procedural Spotlight. Exhaustively researched and written with class and care by director Tom McCarthy and co-scripter Josh Singer, this is a bold and provocative film that dares to speak out against one of the most disgusting and powerful religious groups that gets to carry on with impunity in our increasingly absurd and hypocritical society. My stomach was in twisted knots all throughout this film, as the script details the various sexual abuses that rocked the Boston Archdiocese in the early 2000’s. A sterling ensemble cast comprising of Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo (absolutely superb), Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber, Brian d’Arcy James, Stanley Tucci, and the amazing voice of Richard Jenkins all do intense and laser focused work. There isn’t one bad performance out of the group, the direction is crisp and efficient, the writing razor sharp, the editing fluid, the cinematography subtle and controlled.
I have nothing negative to say about the film or the way it was crafted. Were there other movies from 2015 that I enjoyed watching more? You bet. But not many were this incendiary, this enraging, or this important to our society. How ANYONE could support the Catholic Church is well outside my realm of personal understanding in this day and age. This movie makes it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that 249 priests molested or raped 1,000 children of various ages, from all over the Boston area, and in many instances, were simply moved by the Church from one city and parish to another, and sometimes listed in official documents as being on “sick leave.” Yeah. Sick leave, all right. The systemic failure of the Catholic Church to take care of an epidemic of this nature is disturbing and embarrassing, and clearly demonstrates the church’s smug and cavalier attitude towards this reprehensible behavior. I wanted to throw my TV out the window when the filmmakers included the text note that Cardinal Bernard Law was reassigned to a senior position of honor in Rome after being removed from his duties in Massachusetts. The text listing of all the states and countries affected by this tragedy is detailed at the finish, and it makes your skin crawl. This is a great movie about something insanely ugly and sad.
Podcasting Them Softly 