“The Church” and Cardinal Law are distant, cold, uncaring shadows. Whatever culpability The Globe bears, they more than made up for it by compiling overwhelming, carefully-researched evidence that wouldn’t be just another isolated story that would get buried. Very self-effacingly - and I would say unnecessarily and misplaced - the film blames The Globe itself in a big way for not reporting the story years earlier when lawyers and victims provided plenty of damning information that went ignored. Ironically, both the Catholic Church in Boston and the Boston Globe were at the height of their influence at the beginning of the new millennium, while a third character–the internet–is just becoming a serious player. High (a Catholic Jesuit boys high school that some of the reporters themselves attended, maintained an infamous priest-coach molester on staff) is directly across the street from the Boston Globe building. The kicker is that all the evidence was hiding in plain sight. Since we, the audience, presumably know the sordid story and outcome, there are few surprises and no real highs, lows or even serious crisis points. Little by little, the magnitude of the number of priests, victims, and the span of years and cover-ups becomes clearer. The timeline unfolds without much fanfare. It took an outside editor from New York to press the issue.
They are even trained to believe that when the Catholic Church dismisses claims, they can’t possibly be true. It extended even into the Boston Globe where employees (many of whom were Catholic) simply knew you don’t take on the Catholic Church. The monolithic power of the Catholic Church (until 2002) over civic, religious, and spiritual affairs in the city of Boston is chilling. The tone is somber, dreary and somewhat suffocating - as it should be. The excellent cast seem to be humbly striving only to serve the story.
It is what I would call an “information film.” The acting, too, is muted: none of the big name actors shine. “Spotlight” is not a pseudo-documentary, nor is it juicy, sensational, exploitative entertainment. Just enough of the horrific details of cases are disclosed in the film, the rest is hinted at discreetly. It’s rated “R” simply and appropriately for subject matter. It’s an accurate, stark, almost understated presentation. This is a story that had to be told, and the filmmakers have done a capable and responsible job.įor starters, this is not a Church-bashing film even though it easily could have been. “Spotlight” is the recounting of the “Spotlight” team of intrepid investigative reporters at the Boston Globe who broke the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse story in January 2002 - mainly concerning the Archdiocese of Boston.
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