Spotlight Is a Cry from the Heart for Sexual Abuse Victims

Herald Sun
January 27, 2016

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/movies/leigh-paatsch/spotlight-is-a-cry-from-the-heart-for-sexual-abuse-victims/news-story/33e8d6813355b38df87f18687cbc8393

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Brian d’Arcy James, Stanley Tucci.

Rating: ****1/2

Some kept hoping, while others kept preying

Both a cry from the heart for victims of sexual abuse and a vivid reminder of the fading art of investigative journalism, Spotlight is deservedly one of the frontrunners for the next Best Picture Oscar.

Superbly acted and scripted, this powerful factual drama tells the true story of The Boston Globe’s 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of systematic molestation of the young by Catholic priests.

The role played by the higher reaches of the Catholic Church in keeping a cover-up firmly in place for several decades became a crucial focus for the Globe.

Tough job ... The film tells the true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of systematic molestation of children by Catholic priests

The end result was a series of revelations which shocked America — and also, the general public’s perception of organised religion — to its foundations.

Many of the Globe’s key findings have since been echoed in disturbingly similar scenarios all over the world, including right here in Australia.

The movie takes its title from the name of the Globe’s famous team of longform investigative scribes, a small unit headed at the time by section editor Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton).

His three reporters — Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) — initially take on the controversial assignment under sufferance.

Robinson and his team are used to choosing their own stories, and nominating their own deadlines. A typical yarn takes many months to cobble together. Sometimes even years.

Critically acclaimed performances ... Rachel McAdams has been nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress in Spotlight. Picture: Kerry Hayes/Open Road Films

However, when a new managing editor, Martin Baron (Liev Schreiber), takes over the Globe, he immediately wants the Spotlight mob to direct all of their energies towards decoding a possible pattern of pedophilic behaviour by priests in the wider Boston region.

It is a huge job, and a wearing one, too: all of the Spotlight team were born and raised as Boston Catholics. In this part of the world, that’s not just a religious affiliation, it is a tribal marking.

As the journos begin pursuing any and all leads they can, Robinson and Baron initially estimate there could be half a dozen priests involved in the scandal. The number soon doubles, and continues to rise alarmingly.

By the time the Globe is ready to go to print, the Spotlight team amass evidence of over 90 active priests having preyed upon the youth of Boston at some point in their careers.

Gravitas ... Liev Shreiber plays Marty Baron

Gifted ... Mark Ruffalo stars as Michael Rezendes

Even more gallingly, the Globe discovers a complex web of collusion between the Church, the local judicial system and prominent Catholic citizens of Boston.

While the subject matter of Spotlight could be construed as confronting by some potential viewers, be assured that the excellence of its ensemble cast — as well as the purity of intent of its scripting and direction — makes this movie a vital experience throughout.

One of the key factors that raises Spotlight to such a rare level is that director Tom McCarthy never lets us forget who the real heroes are here.

It is not the journalists of the Spotlight team. It is those victims who kept telling their stories over and over for many years, in the hope that someone one day might listen, believe and act upon their words.