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kauaiooSpotlight is definitely a movie worth watching, but again it's not one that requires or benefits from the big screen. The entire cast was excellent, with Michael Keaton deserving a special mention. Of course the storyline is one that we are all too familiar with - the Church systematically covered up systemic child abuse and the rest of the city (police, families, lawyers, even journalists) turned a blind eye for decades. Perhaps audiences outside Ireland would experience more shock or horror at this revelation, but I don't see how anyone here could find anything surprising in this story. And so, as a movie designed for entertainment value, Spotlight was very good but lacked oomph. There was no new or surprising information revealed, and there was no satisfactory ending because unfortunately the Church is standing at the end of the movie!
I enjoyed the intricacies of how the journalists went about fighting the Church to get records un-sealed and how they finally exposed the story. I always enjoy seeing the journalstic process up close, it's something I am very fond of and often wonder if that would have been a satisfying and successful career for me. I also enjoyed some of the side characters, particularly one lawyer who was fighting on behalf of the victims against this seemingly inpenetrable wall of evil. I think that a story focusing on his efforts would have yielded a more emotive response.
While the movie lacked oomph, and indeed a satisfactory resolution, I found that it held my attention throughout and I did thoroughly enjoy it. I would like to experience watching this movie without knowing the truth of the systemic abuse and cover-up, I think if that were the case I'd be raving about it being the best movie ever! But, that's not the case and having an understanding of how widespread the abuse was, the movie just falls a little flat. It's still a worthy endeavour, and the writing and performances are so good that I would still recommend it very highly.
I enjoyed the intricacies of how the journalists went about fighting the Church to get records un-sealed and how they finally exposed the story. I always enjoy seeing the journalstic process up close, it's something I am very fond of and often wonder if that would have been a satisfying and successful career for me. I also enjoyed some of the side characters, particularly one lawyer who was fighting on behalf of the victims against this seemingly inpenetrable wall of evil. I think that a story focusing on his efforts would have yielded a more emotive response.
While the movie lacked oomph, and indeed a satisfactory resolution, I found that it held my attention throughout and I did thoroughly enjoy it. I would like to experience watching this movie without knowing the truth of the systemic abuse and cover-up, I think if that were the case I'd be raving about it being the best movie ever! But, that's not the case and having an understanding of how widespread the abuse was, the movie just falls a little flat. It's still a worthy endeavour, and the writing and performances are so good that I would still recommend it very highly.