Review; “Spotlight”
Metacritic: 93 users: 7.8
My score: This is a work in process, but worth figuring out
Engagement: 4/5
I judge movie quality and worthiness to watch, largely by how well they hold my attention and enthrall me. A movie that really forces you to pay attention to it and transports you and takes you on a ride is super important to me, and a large part of the reason you watch them at all.
This film, did that I had to watch every minute, it didn’t take me to another universe like Interstellar or the Martian, but it was wonderfully engaging.
Education & Enlightenment: 5/5
This movie is important, and it’s not an anti-relegion statement from me. It’s just a movie that matters, and sheds light on 2 important stories.
The story the movie is about: This film is important because it shows us what has happened with a major problem, sexual abuse by catholic priests. It’s about the news team at the Boston Globe who ran a division of the paper called “spotlight” which did investigative journalism and ultimately uncovered 87 priests just in Boston, and led to the uncovering of a worldwide epidemic. It’s important. You can like it or not, but it’s important, and I think worth understanding for multiple reasons.
The story inside the story, that I really related to: There’s a second story here, one about journalism. I care about journalism, I came from that world, and I thought this film was amazing in how it portrayed it and how it showed the importance of real investigative journalism in the world.
An immense amount could be said about both of these parts of the film, and their place as topics in society. I just think they’re important to think about and examine and remember, and that each person who watches this will take away some kind of important meaning.
Comedy: 1/5
Some serious films have lots of funny moments, I will say this one didn’t really have any, but it would have almost been wrong to include. There were 1 or 2 smile moments but that was about it.
Mostly I was just in awe of how the cast filled the roles of these courageous people, and how well it delivered the import of the messages in the film.
I would recommend that anyone see this movie, even certain children as guided by their parents. It would help them to understand some of the dangers they face. If you’re a parent, I would watch it on your own and make a decision if your children are under 12–13. If they’re older than that, and there are things in this film they need to talk about, I can’t think of a better parenting conversation opportunity, and you should make sure to have that conversation.
The film was done very tastefully and balanced, and most of all reminded me of how important it is, to try to be a person who is forming an opinion rather than having one by default.
I was impressed at how it wasn’t overtly vilifying anyone to a degree that was more than reasonable, and it was incredibly balanced and fair. That speaks to the incredible manner of the journalist team that pursued the story.
Well, I don’t expect to win any awards as a film critic or connoisseur, but I do hope more people see this. It’s a rare case where awareness alone is often the cure. It’s also incredibly well done, I still don’t know if if was the acting and film making or the actual story that produced the quality of the film but I’d guess it was like many things, started with perfect ingredients (a great story and heroic real people) and then they added very perfect film making and acting on top of it.