"Spotlight" Is Absorbing Salute to Old-school Journalism

By Calvin Wilson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
November 19, 2015

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/review-spotlight-is-absorbing-salute-to-old-school-journalism/article_cc73dbe8-b590-5b1e-a701-b21602c88af4.html

This photo provided by courtesy of Open Road Films shows, Rachel McAdams, from left, as Sacha Pfeiffer, Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes, Brian d’Arcy James as Matt Carroll, Michael Keaton as Walter "Robby" Robinson and John Slattery as Ben Bradlee Jr., in a scene from the film, "Spotlight." (Kerry Hayes/Open Road Films via AP)

Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton) isn’t sure what to expect from Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), the newly appointed editor-in-chief of the Boston Globe. Robinson is the leader of Spotlight — a team of journalists devoted to time-consuming and labor-intensive investigations — and he’s concerned that Baron might be a cost-cutter who’s out to dismantle it.

Baron has no such goal. An outsider to Boston, his interest is in surmising the lay of the land and, if necessary, shaking things up. And he’s barely had time to settle into his office when he suggests a project for Spotlight: looking into cases involving pedophile priests, and the role of the Catholic Church in protecting them.

Robinson is all too aware that, in a city that’s largely Catholic, the story is a powder keg. But it’s also a story for which the Globe must take responsibility, even if it does so belatedly.

Against a backdrop of opposition explicit and implied, reporters Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) set out after the truth. And Robinson grapples with his own culpability in helping to perpetuate sexual abuse.

The fact-based “Spotlight” is a salute to the kind of responsible, meticulous old-school journalism that is in danger of becoming extinct — but won the Boston Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Working from a screenplay that he co-wrote with Josh Singer (“The Fifth Estate”), director Tom McCarthy delivers a film as measured yet impassioned as the story it depicts.

Keaton, who deserved an Oscar for his performance in “Birdman,” brings to Robinson a bracing blend of humor and authority. Ruffalo is the essence of the newsman who just won’t quit, and McAdams is just as effective as his more low-key colleague.

“Spotlight” isn’t quite as good as “All The President’s Men,” the gold standard of films about journalism. But it’s close.

What “Spotlight” • 3? stars out of four • Run time 2:08 • Rating R • Content Language including sexual reference