Spotlight (2015)
Did I miss something? I saw Spotlight, I watched it while hoping to appreciate it as the Best Picture of the year. Rachel McAdams got a highly-coveted Oscar nomination, Michael Keaton was enjoying his comeback, and Mark Ruffalo got to channel his offscreen personality of fighting for social causes.
By the nature of the title, the film was supposed to put a spotlight on a hidden, horrifying problem. But where was the spotlight? It was so watered down, it felt like Part One of a ten-part series, only the rest of the drama wound up on the cutting room floor. The opportunity was there, and all screenwriters Tom McCarthy and Joseph Singer had to do was grab out for it. Not only was it a true story, akin to All the President’s Men, but even if it didn’t mirror the Boston Globe’s reporting, it still would have had enough scandal to truly shock audiences. Was there anyone out there who was actually surprised by the reveal of priest molestation within American Catholic churches? By 2015, everyone knew about this, so the movie needed to give more horrific details or dig a little deeper to accomplish its goal. Instead, pretty much the entire movie consisted of the reporters talking to each other in their cubicles. The dialogue had a natural patter to it, with unedited stammers and interruptions, but it felt like a self-righteous, wordy play you’d see on Broadway. If the film was going to shed light on a terrible topic, there were so many more stories it could have featured.
I loved the cast and would have flocked to the theaters to see any movie with the three leads, Stanley Tucci, John Slattery, Brian d’Arcy James, and Liev Schrieber, but I was incredibly disappointed by the tameness of this movie. I didn’t want to see anything graphic or disturbing – the subject matter was disturbing enough – but I was expecting a little less talk and more action. Remember how painstakingly slow the first half hour All the President’s Men was? Imagine if the movie never actually accomplished anything, and Woodward and Bernstein just talked about their articles all the time. If you haven’t seen Spotlight, you’re not missing much.
More Rachel McAdams movies here!
By the nature of the title, the film was supposed to put a spotlight on a hidden, horrifying problem. But where was the spotlight? It was so watered down, it felt like Part One of a ten-part series, only the rest of the drama wound up on the cutting room floor. The opportunity was there, and all screenwriters Tom McCarthy and Joseph Singer had to do was grab out for it. Not only was it a true story, akin to All the President’s Men, but even if it didn’t mirror the Boston Globe’s reporting, it still would have had enough scandal to truly shock audiences. Was there anyone out there who was actually surprised by the reveal of priest molestation within American Catholic churches? By 2015, everyone knew about this, so the movie needed to give more horrific details or dig a little deeper to accomplish its goal. Instead, pretty much the entire movie consisted of the reporters talking to each other in their cubicles. The dialogue had a natural patter to it, with unedited stammers and interruptions, but it felt like a self-righteous, wordy play you’d see on Broadway. If the film was going to shed light on a terrible topic, there were so many more stories it could have featured.
I loved the cast and would have flocked to the theaters to see any movie with the three leads, Stanley Tucci, John Slattery, Brian d’Arcy James, and Liev Schrieber, but I was incredibly disappointed by the tameness of this movie. I didn’t want to see anything graphic or disturbing – the subject matter was disturbing enough – but I was expecting a little less talk and more action. Remember how painstakingly slow the first half hour All the President’s Men was? Imagine if the movie never actually accomplished anything, and Woodward and Bernstein just talked about their articles all the time. If you haven’t seen Spotlight, you’re not missing much.
More Rachel McAdams movies here!