I’ve been told that “Spotlight” is the best film of the year. I’ve been told this by a group of people whom I don’t really trust, but I’ve been told this nonetheless. It’s an interesting notion, and it certainly isn’t hard to see why someone might consider “Spotlight” the best movie of the year. But to really talk about “Spotlight,” I’m not going to compare it to any other film made this year; rather I think anything that could be considered the best film of the year, should be able to stand on its own rather than have to be exalted over other films.
By now, the subject matter of “Spotlight” is common knowledge, not breaking news as it was when the story was first uncovered, even if it’s horrifying. The knowledge that Catholic priests were sexually abusing children can’t be anything other than horrifying, so while the ending of “Spotlight” might seem like it’s going to be anticlimactic, it’s still engrossing nonetheless.
And the movie is banking on that, as there isn’t much else going on in the film besides this horrible “scandal,” somehow that feels like far too tame a word for what happened. The journalists, the four on the titular spotlight team (played by Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton and Brian D’Arcy James), are sketchily drawn in; we know enough about them to understand where they stand religiously and how they relate to the city of Boston, but none of them are the focus of the piece. It’s all about the story.
On one hand, the story is enough. Even knowing exactly what’s coming, the viewer is disgusted all over again as the journalists uncover each bit of information, slowly piecing together all the pain caused, all the lives touched, some ruined, all irrevocably hurt. The credits roll and the viewer is left stunned that such villainy could occur, both the incidents themselves and the cover up.
But the film just doesn’t have the power to stick with the viewer. Days after viewing the film, it left a disgusting taste in my mouth. To not be angry about what happened, simply doesn’t feel right, and yet the film still isn’t that memorable.
Technically, everything is on point, writing, sets, directing and acting, all the way down to the Boston accents. However, it’s the kind of film that moves through the story so briskly, the script is so tight, that it never builds up a personality as a film. More than once, while watching the film, I found myself comparing it to a procedural drama, like I could tune in next week and see the exact same plotline, or an HBO movie; “Spotlight” simply doesn’t feel cinematic.
That’s not to say the film isn’t engrossing; it just fails to leave a lasting impression as a movie. As a story, there’s a lot to take away, but that all comes from the visceral reaction to the Catholic Church’s actions. That’s not necessarily a negative, but it does mean that the film has economized story over character, general anger over intimate connection. The closest the film ever comes to those personal connections is when the journalists are interviewing survivors, then there are faces to these abuses, to the story.
Otherwise, no one stands out. I can’t recall any of the journalists’ names, or any real distinct traits about any of them. I recall the processes they went through to uncover the story, but there just isn’t anything about the film to grasp onto.
“Spotlight” is well crafted and illuminating, but it doesn’t stick in the viewer’s consciousness. This makes it all the more odd to think that this is the “best film of the year” when it leaves no real mark on the viewer.
