'Blu-ray or Bust' - SPOTLIGHT

'Blu-ray or Bust'

SPOTLIGHT (2015, R, 128 minutes, ANONYMOUS CONTENT/OPEN ROAD FILMS)

Question:  What do you get when you put The Hulk, Birdman, a time traveler’s wife, and Sabretooth all in the same film?

No, fellow geeks, it ain’t a Marvel movie—however it is one of the most powerful films of 2015 (as proven by winning the Academy Award for Best Picture on Sunday). SPOTLIGHT follows a team of reporters at the Boston Globe who, in January of 2002, published the story of how the Catholic Church in Boston covered up several (see: understatement) instances of priests molesting children. The incredible cast of this film is what sets it apart from other “newspaper-finds-the-truth” stories; that, and the efficient and damning job of writer/director Tom McCarthy (the man also responsible for the wonderful THE STATION AGENT—which is available on Netflix, just in case you are curious) (which you should be—if you still read the crap I write, it means you at least believe that I know what I’m talking about) (uh….right…).

The heavy subject matter is treated with a quiet, reserved respect, which it rightfully deserves. Molestation is a sensitive subject; add a priest to the mix, and you’ve got one majorly holy crap-fest. And while this is an important story, every aspect of which should be studied and read and pontificated upon, the performances by this incredible cast completely sell this tale.

Mark Ruffalo (“The Hulk”) gives an Oscar-worthy/you-should-take-acting-lessons-from-this-dude performance as passionate reporter Mike Rezendes, a guy that gives the word “tenacious” a new meaning. Michael Keaton plays “Robby”, the man in charge of the Spotlight division of the paper; his performance is more subdued than Ruffalo’s, but it grounds him to us in a different way. All of these actors do an amazing job of giving us normal people doing a normal job, even if the subject matter is most assuredly NOT normal. None of them have to be superheroes, none of them have to be egomaniacal bastards. They are just regular folks here, and it lends a documentary feeling to the proceedings, which makes everything that much more personable. Add Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, and Stanley Tucci to the cast, and you’ve got a masterful ensemble in one hell of a powerful film.

The special features give you an extra eleven to twelve minutes of viewing time, but only the first doc is necessary. In it, you get to meet the original reporters and editors behind the powerhouse story from the Globe. While this isn’t a whole lot of extra’s to get excited about, honestly, if you are looking for more, go on the Boston Globe’s website and read the original article, not to mention all of the follow-up articles written after the main story’s publication.

This is one of those films which reminds you that sometimes Hollywood can still tell a damn interesting story, one without superheroes or cops chasing down terrorists. Sometimes, the best heroes are the ones that work behind the scenes, and they all deserve movies just like this one.

Film Grade: A

Special Features: C

Blu-ray Necessary: Recommended, but not necessary

T.S. Kummelman