Chad’s Grade: B+
The Academy Awards has had a long flirtation with films based on crusading reporters and news journalism in general. Classic Films like “Foreign Correspondent,” “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” “Network,” and “All the President’s Men” garnered multiple nominations. In the modern era, films like “Broadcast News,” “Good Night & Good Luck,” and “The Post “also garnered the Academy’s attention.
Heck, even “Citizen Kane,” widely considered to be the greatest film of all, had multiple nominations (it lost best picture to John Ford’s “How Green was my Valley.”) Orson Welles’s masterpiece was a fictional but thinly veiled account of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. (See 2020’s “Mank,” from director David Fincher, about the screen classic’s fascinating behind-the-scenes drama.)
One of the most recognizable comedies featuring rival, dueling reporters, 1940’s “His Girl Friday,” was completely snubbed by the Academy. The Howard Hawks classic is considered one of the great screwball comedies thanks to its crackerjack script and great chemistry between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.
This brings us to 2015’s “Spotlight,” a much different reporter film than “Citizen Kane” or “His Girl Friday.” Set in 2001, the true story follows the Boston Globe uncovering the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up in the local Catholic Archdiocese. The resulting story touched off a wave of revelations worldwide that still reverberate today. The movie focuses on the investigative unit of the Boston Globe dubbed Spotlight. The spotlight group consists of reporters Mike Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer, Matt Carrol, and group editor Walter “Robby” Robinson. The film tracks their methodical approach to reveal the massive scandal that reached the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal, and government establishment.
“Spotlight” was dubbed a “superhero journalism” movie upon its release, which is a bit of a misnomer. While the reporter characters appear favorable, the film has a very workmanlike approach to the material. The film is shot in a very grounded linear fashion strictly from the reporter’s POV. We learn facts just as the characters do, watching the puzzle pieces snap together to uncover the massive scandal. There’s no fancy editing or flashback structure to the proceedings, which helps and hurts the picture. There’s no sizzle to the steak, so to speak, the movie is very much by the book, sticking to the facts, just like its reporters.
This movie lives and dies by its screenplay, as the story must build suspense even if we know the outcome. Fortunately, the real-life story has twists, turns, and surprises that keep the audience engaged. The script was penned by Josh Singer and director Tom McCarthy (Singer would co-write the newspaper-themed “The Post” in 2017), and like its direction, it’s grounded and naturalistic. There’s no stylized dialogue or characters breaking into long monologues ala “Network.” It’s an anti-Sorkin screenplay, and I say this as a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin.
When you have a script of this caliber, the actors naturally shine in this kind of film. The stacked cast includes John Slattery, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton (in a career resurgence after the Oscar-winning “Birdman”), Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Stanley Tucci. The two standouts are Ruffalo, taking a break from playing the fan-favorite Hulk in the MCU to portray scrappy Spotlight reporter Mike Rezendes and earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination. Also earning a nomination is Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer, the reporter interviewing several molestation victims. These stories are truly horrifying, and McAdams masterfully portrays compassion but steel nerves as she methodically recounts these tragic childhood traumas. I also enjoyed Liev Schreiber’s subtle and nuanced turn as the Globe’s quiet editor-in-chief who jumpstarts the investigation.
As the movie was set in 2001, the film plays like a period piece. The movie expertly shows the power of local investigative journalism and the encroaching effect of this new contraption called the internet. In recent years, we’ve witnessed streaming and social media transform news content, for better or worse. “Spotlight” is now a time capsule showing reporters not as “opinion” journalists but a group who let the facts lead the story.
Finally, Hollywood doesn’t care to make this type of movie anymore. These mid-budget movies of grounded, real-life stories have been moved to the streaming arena for the time being. See Hulu’s “Dopesick, “also starring Michael Keaton, as a similar project that would never be approved for a theatrical release. “Spotlight” is a well-made, well-acted, and honestly written account of a story that needed to be told. Despite its lack of flash, it’s an engaging film that reveals a real-life, deep-seated scandal of the Catholic Church.
THE 2015 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES:
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
The Martian
The Big Short
Room
Brooklyn
This is a wild and tonally diverse list of nominees for 2015. I adored “The Martian,” with the movie expertly moving between action, drama, and even comedy among a haunting Mars’s atmosphere. “Mad Max: Fury Road” was the oddball here, as it’s rare that a high-octane action film gets the Academy’s attention. But George Miller’s dystopian sequel is a masterpiece of stunt work, action choreography, and expert world-building, and I applaud the Academy for giving it a well-deserved nomination. “Bridge of Spies” was an engaging spy drama/thriller with Steven Spielberg stepping outside of his comfort zone. “Room” was an intimate, almost play-like drama but was more of a showcase for Brie Larson’s Academy Award-winning performance. And “The Big Short” took a complex subject of the 2008 Great Recession, turning it into a stylized, Wall Street set comedy of errors with a fantastic cast.
Finally, there was “The Revenant” from director Alejandro G. Inarritu, the winner of the Best Directing Oscar. Inarritu won the previous year’s Best Directing prize for 2014’s “Birdman,” becoming the rare director to pull off back-to-back wins. “The Revenant” is a gritty and brutal survival film of an 1820s fur trading expedition featuring an Academy Award-winning performance from star Leonardo DiCaprio. The film’s most notorious scene is poor Leo getting mauled by a wild bear that has been spoofed and memed endlessly on social media.
DID IT DESERVE TO WIN?
No. “Spotlight” is a gripping, well-made drama, but I think it squeaked by the Best Picture win because the Academy did not want to award Inarritu twice. The Academy showered the Inarritu-directed “Birdman” with both the Best Director & Best Picture Oscars. They didn’t want a repeat performance, so they split the difference.
And for me, “The Revenant” is a better-made and more visually entertaining film. To return to my earlier metaphor, this steak has more sizzle. I hate to admit this, but I completely forgot that “Spotlight” won best picture, but I’ve revisited “The Revenant” several times since its release.