Spotlight Review

The 88th Academy Awards were mired in controversy, from it being accused of being racist to some of the winners. It was also a big night. Leonardo DiCaprio finally got his overdue Oscar, Chris Rock was a phenomenal host who tackled the racial issues, Mad Max won the most awards, and Spotlight won the best picture award, beating out Bridge of Spies, The Big Short, The Martian, The Revenant, Brooklyn, Mad Max, and Room. All of the films deserved to win the award. Every film was truly spectacular however most people were bothered with Spotlight's win, as many believed that The Revenant was going to win. However this film and only one other film (The Big Short) shows recent history and events that still play a part in today's world. The Big Short dealt with the collapse of the housing market in 2008 and Spotlight deals with the controversy of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church in Boston in 2001.

In 2001, editor Marty Baron of The Boston Globe assigns a team of journalists to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, an unfrocked priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys. Led by editor Walter "Robby" Robinson, reporters Michael Rezendes, Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview victims and try to unseal sensitive documents. The reporters make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.

This film is far from easy viewing. It is very scary how true the film can be at times, especially since it is so close in our history. After the final scene, the filmmakers added in cities that have had similar child abuse cases. The film's performances are great. If it was possible all of the actors should have at least been nominated. Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Michael d'Arcy James, and Stanley Tucci make up the central cast with all except Schreiber and James making up the "Spotlight" team. The supporting characters are also important from Cardinal Law (who was found to be covering up the abuses) to the lawyer who helped mediate cases between the church and families (Billy Crudup plays the lawyer) to the victims themselves. All of the victims shown are all nervous and scared, but also reluctant about giving information because they have tried telling their story with little to no success. Everything here is great and really makes you think about the condition of the world and it's leaders. It is a harrowing portrayal of one of the biggest scandals involving the Catholic Church and definitely worth all of the critical rection it is receiving.