Review: Spotlight

I remember hearing about this film at around the start of 2015 and it definitely sounded like an Oscar contender. It has the right sort of actors and a Oscar-esque storyline.

Thankfully, this does not feel like 'Oscar-bait'. This gripping drama deserves any award going for them

This films tells us an important story that has grown into something so astonishing that I could feel everyone in my screening that I was in puff out their cheeks in amazement.

Another thing that this film gives, is basically a love letter to investigative journalists. They are the type of journalists that we should respect more often as the tabloid style journalists has given the profession a bad name.

The main reason this film is a captivating watch, is the script. The story gives the film its biggest positives.  The style of information we find felt more like a film documentary. I admired that hugely as the high-quality story-telling meant that it did not have to dramatize any of the events or make the characters seem like heroes, as the story itself is shocking enough and it made the characters feel real.

The cast is the perfect example of an ensemble as there are no true leads. They are pretty much all supporting each other, with terrific end results. If I had to pick a lead, it would be Michael Keaton as he plays the characters that leads these band of journalists. His performance is pretty solid. But I think the stand-out was Mark Ruffalo. His most outstanding performances of this dogged character really showed in Ruffalo's face and voice. You really believed his characters passion in uncovering this astonishing story.
Other notable performances were Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci who always gives us a great supportive role and Liev Schreiber, who does a great job at his wonderfully under-stated performance that we hardly see from him. A final mention should go to the various people who played 'the survivors' in the film. They did an amazing job.

In the end, I'll repeat myself by saying that this deserves to be part of the awards season. The script is phenomenal, its portrays this unbelievable true story incredibly well that the mainstream audience can engage with. It does have a tough subject matter, but my goodness is it worth it.
The final few moments before the credits shocked me and you could feel it from everyone else in the screening that I attended.
Props to Tom McCarthy as his directing prowess slowly intensifies really well and makes the structure of the story a perfect one for us to understand. This definitely has the feel of a Best Picture winner.

Rating: 8/10