Spotlight (film)

For the 1927 film, see The Spotlight (film).
Spotlight

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Tom McCarthy
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Masanobu Takayanagi
Edited by Tom McArdle
Production
companies
Distributed by Open Road Films
Release dates
  • September 3, 2015 (2015-09-03) (Venice)
  • November 6, 2015 (2015-11-06) (United States)
Running time
 129 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $20 million[2]
Box office $88.3 million[3]

Spotlight is a 2015 American biographical drama film directed by Tom McCarthy and written by McCarthy and Josh Singer.[4][5] The film follows The Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative journalist unit in the United States,[6] and its investigation into cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests. It is based on a series of stories by the "Spotlight" team that earned The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.[7] The film stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Brian d'Arcy James, Liev Schreiber, and Billy Crudup.[8]

Spotlight was shown in the Out of Competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.[9] It was also shown at the Telluride Film Festival and the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[10] The film was released on November 6, 2015, by Open Road Films. It won numerous guilds and critics' association awards, and was named one of the finest films of 2015 by various publications. Spotlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture along with Best Original Screenplay from six nominations in total, making Spotlight the first film from Open Road Films to win in either category. This also marks the first film to win Best Picture from a different mini-major studio than Lionsgate, Summit (later bought by Lionsgate in 2012), Miramax, or TWC.

Plot

The film begins with a brief prologue in 1976. At a Boston Police station, two policemen, a rookie and a veteran officer discuss the arrest of a Catholic priest for molestation of children and the presence of a high ranking cleric talking to the mother of the children. The Assistant District Attorney then enters the precinct and tells the cops not to let the press get wind of what happened. When the rookie remarks how it will be difficult to keep the press away during the arraignment, the veteran scoffs and sarcastically asks "what arraignment?"

In 2001, The Boston Globe hires a new editor, Marty Baron. Baron meets Walter "Robby" Robinson, the editor of the Spotlight team, a small group of journalists writing investigative articles that take months to research and publish. After Baron reads a Globe column about a lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, who says that Cardinal Bernard Law (the Archbishop of Boston) knew that the priest John Geoghan was sexually abusing children and did nothing to stop him, he urges the Spotlight team to investigate. Journalist Michael Rezendes contacts Garabedian, who initially declines to be interviewed. Though he is told not to, Rezendes reveals that he is on the Spotlight team, persuading Garabedian to talk.

Initially believing that they are following the story of one priest who was moved around several times, the Spotlight team begin to uncover a pattern of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in Massachusetts, and an ongoing cover-up by the Boston Archdiocese. Through Phil Saviano, who heads the victims' rights group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), they widen their search to 13 priests. They learn through Richard Sipe, a former priest who worked at trying to rehabilitate pedophile priests, that statistically there should be approximately 90 abusive priests in Boston (six percent of priests). Through their research, they develop a list of 87 names, and begin to find their victims to back up their suspicions. When the September 11 attacks occur, the team is forced to deprioritize the story. They regain momentum when Rezendes learns from Garabedian that there are publicly available documents that confirm Cardinal Law was made aware of the problem and ignored it. Although Rezendes argues vociferously to run the story immediately before more victims suffer and rival newspapers publish, Robinson remains steadfast to research further so that the systemic problem can be more fully exposed. After The Boston Globe wins a case to have even more legal documents unsealed that provide the evidence of that larger picture, the Spotlight team finally begins to write the story, and plan to publish their findings in early 2002.

As they are about to go to print, Robinson confesses to the team that he was sent a list of 20 pedophile priests by lawyer Eric MacLeish in 1993 that he never followed up on, but Baron still commends him and his team's efforts to expose the crimes now. The story goes to print with a web link to the documents that expose Cardinal Law's inaction, and a phone number for victims of pedophile priests. The following morning, the Spotlight team is inundated with phone calls from victims coming forward to tell their stories. The film closes with a list of places in the United States and around the world where major scandals involving abuse by priests took place. It also states that Cardinal Law resigned, and was eventually promoted to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one of the biggest churches in the world.

Cast

The Spotlight Team

Additional characters

Production

Development

McCarthy and Singer completed the script in June 2013.[20] It was listed on the 2013 Black List of unproduced screenplays.[21] Singer told Creative Screenwriting that one of his goals for the film was to highlight the power of journalism, which he feels has been waning. He explained, "This story isn’t about exposing the Catholic Church. We were not on some mission to rattle people’s faith. In fact, Tom came from a Catholic family. The motive was to tell the story accurately while showing the power of the newsroom – something that’s largely disappeared today. This story is important. Journalism is important, and there is a deeper message in the story."[22]

Filming

Principal photography began on September 24, 2014, in Boston, Massachusetts,[23] and continued in October in Hamilton, Ontario. Filming took place at Fenway Park,[24] The Boston Globe offices in Dorchester, Boston,[17] the Boston Public Library,[25] and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.[26] The film's editor Tom McArdle said of the post-production process, "We edited for eight months. We just wanted to keep refining the film. We cut out five scenes plus some segments of other scenes. Often we would just cut out a line or two to make a scene a little tighter."[27]

Release

The film "premiered to sustained applause" at the Venice Film Festival and the audience "erupted in laughter" when the film reported that following the events in the film Cardinal Bernard Law was reassigned to a senior position of honor in Rome.[9] It had a limited release on November 6, 2015, with its U.S. release scheduled for three weeks later on November 25.[28]

Home media

Spotlight was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on February 23, 2016.[29]

Reception

Box office

Spotlight grossed $45.1 million in the USA & Canada, and $43.3 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $88.3 million against a budget of $20 million.[3] The Hollywood Reporter calculated the net profit for the film to be above $10 million.[30]

In the opening weekend of its limited release, the film grossed $295,009 from five theaters ($59,002 average), one of the highest per-screen averages of any release of 2015.[31] The film grossed $4.4 million in the first weekend during its wide release, finishing 8th at the box office.[32]

Critical response

Spotlight received widespread critical acclaim. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating of 96%, based on 283 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Spotlight gracefully handles the lurid details of its fact-based story while resisting the temptation to lionize its heroes, resulting in a drama that honors the audience as well as its real-life subjects."[33] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 93 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[34]

Variety's Justin Chang called the film "a superbly controlled and engrossingly detailed account of the Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the widespread pedophilia scandals and subsequent cover-ups within the Catholic Church."[35]

At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, Spotlight finished third in the audience balloting for the People's Choice Award.[36]

Reactions from the Catholic Church

Prior to the film's release, Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston issued a statement in the archdiocese's official newspaper, stating that the "media's investigative reporting on the abuse crisis instigated a call for the Church to take responsibility for its failings and to reform itself—to deal with what was shameful and hidden."[37] O’Malley had not seen the movie at that time but planned to do so according to a church spokesman.[38]

On November 9, 2015, a review published by the Catholic News Service called the film a "generally accurate chronicle" of the Boston scandal, but objected to some of the portrayals and the film's view of the Church.[39] On the Catholic News Service, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles Robert Barron said that it is "not a bad movie", as it shows that the wider community shares the responsibility for sexual abuse committed by priests, but that the film is wrong to insinuate that the Church has not reformed.[40]

Vatican Radio, official radio service of the Holy See, called it "honest" and "compelling" and said it helped the U.S. Catholic Church "to accept fully the sin, to admit it publicly, and to pay all the consequences."[41] Luca Pellegrini on the Vatican Radio website wrote that the Globe reporters "made themselves examples of their most pure vocation, that of finding the facts, verifying sources, and making themselves—for the good of the community and of a city—paladins of the need for justice."[41][42] In February 2016, a Vatican City commission on clerical sex abuse attended a private screening of the film.[43] Following the film's Best Picture win at the Oscars, Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano ran a column assuring that the movie is "not an anti-Catholic film", and Vatican Radio revealed that clerics in Rome have been recommending the film to each other.[44][45][46]

Criticism

A January 8, 2016 article in The New York Times cited author David F. Pierre Jr., who said that Spotlight "is a misrepresentation of how the Church dealt with sexual abuse cases", asserting that the movie's biggest flaw was its failure to portray psychologists who had assured Church officials that abusive priests could be safely returned to ministry after undergoing therapy treatments. Open Road Films rebutted the detractor, saying he was "perpetuating a myth in order to distract from real stories of abuse."[47]

The film was attacked by Jack Dunn (played by Gary Galone in the film), a member of the board at Boston College High School, and its public relations head, for portraying him as indifferent to the scandal. After viewing the film, Dunn says he was immediately aware of the issues involved and worked to respond.[48] Two of the Globe reporters depicted in the film, Walter Robinson and Sacha Pfeiffer, issued a statement in response to Dunn, firmly standing by their recollections of the day, saying Dunn did "his best to frame a story in the most favorable way possible for the institution he is representing. That’s what Jack did that day." They said Dunn mounted a "spirited public relations defense of Boston College High School during our first sit-down interview at the school in early 2002," the lone scene in which Dunn is depicted in the film.[49]

On March 15, 2016, Open Road Films released a statement on how Dunn was portrayed in the film: "As is the case with most movies based on historical events, Spotlight contains fictionalized dialogue that was attributed to Mr. Dunn for dramatic effect. We acknowledge that Mr. Dunn was not part of the Archdiocesan cover-up. It is clear from his efforts on behalf of the victims at BC High that he and the filmmakers share a deep, mutual concern for victims of abuse."[50]

Following this Dunn also released a statement: "I feel vindicated by the public statement and relieved to have the record set straight on an issue that has caused me and my family tremendous pain. While it will never erase the horrific experience of being falsely portrayed in an Academy Award-winning film, this public statement enables me to move forward with my reputation and integrity intact."[50]

Accolades

Spotlight has been critically acclaimed, and has been included in many critics' Top Ten Films of 2015 lists.[51] The film has received over 100 industry and critics awards and nominations. The American Film Institute selected Spotlight as one of the Top Ten Films of the year.[52] The film garnered three Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for McCarthy, and Best Screenplay for McCarthy and Josh Singer.[53] It was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay for Singer, Best Editing for Tom McArdle and Honorary Robert Altman Award for the cast.[54] Rachel McAdams and the ensemble cast received Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture nominations, with the ensemble cast winning the latter.[55]

The New York Film Critics Circle awarded Michael Keaton the Best Actor award,[56] while it won the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Ensemble cast at the New York Film Critics Online Awards.[57] Spotlight won the Best Film and Best Screenplay from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It received eight nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Score.[58] It won the Best Cast in a Motion Picture at Satellite Awards and was nominated for six other awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay.[59]

At the Academy Awards, the film received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Ruffalo, Best Supporting Actress for McAdams, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, winning Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It is the first Best Picture winner to win fewer than three Academy Awards since The Greatest Show on Earth in 1953. At the time of its win, the film had made $39.2 million at the North American box office, making it the second lowest domestically grossing film (adjusted for ticket-price inflation) to win Best Picture within the past four decades (after The Hurt Locker with $17 million).[60]

Spotlight was listed on over 120 critics' and publications' top ten lists.[51]

References

  1. ↑ "SPOTLIGHT (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 27, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Watching the Watchers: Tom McCarthy on Making Spotlight". Vulture.com. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Spotlight (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  4. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (August 8, 2014). "Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton in Talks for Catholic Priest Sex Abuse Scandal Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Participant Media's "Spotlight" Starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel Mcadams, Liev Schreiber And Stanley Tucci Goes To Camera In Boston Before Lensing In Toronto". 3BL Media. September 25, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  6. ↑ Allen, Scott (June 22, 2012). "A distinguished history of digging up the truth". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Pulitzer Prizes | Citation". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  8. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (August 8, 2014). "Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams in Talks to Star in Catholic Church Sex Scandal Drama (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Shanahan, Mark (September 3, 2015). "'Spotlight' gets glittering debut in Venice". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Toronto to open with 'Demolition'; world premieres for 'Trumbo', 'The Program'". ScreenDaily. July 28, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (September 16, 2014). "Mark Ruffalo visits the Globe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  12. ↑ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (August 11, 2014). "Report: Globe Spotlight movie gets a cast". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Siegel, Tatiana; Kit, Borys (August 27, 2014). "Billy Crudup in Talks for Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal Film 'Spotlight' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Brian d'Arcy James Joins Boston Priest Pedophile Drama SPOTLIGHT". Broadway World. September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ Juul, Matt (September 26, 2014). "'Spotlight' Actors Spotted at Fenway Park". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  16. 1 2 Siegemund-Broka, Austin (September 25, 2014). "John Slattery, 'Homeland' Alum Join Catholic Sex Abuse Film 'Spotlight'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  17. 1 2 Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (September 29, 2014). "'Spotlight' films at The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  18. ↑ Labrecque, Jeff (February 16, 2016). "How Spotlight cast the 'Voice of God,' and how the Church has (or hasn't) changed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  19. ↑ Lombardi, Kristen (October 31 – November 6, 2003). "Phil Saviano Founder of the local Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  20. ↑ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (August 19, 2014). "'Spotlight' script tells the story of Globe series". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Black List 2013: Full Screenplay List". Deadline.com. December 16, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  22. ↑ Iacovetti, Carla (January 25, 2016). "Spotlight: The Burden of Truth". Creative Screenwriting. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  23. ↑ Juul, Matt (September 24, 2014). "Globe 'Spotlight' Movie Holding Open Casting Call". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  24. ↑ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (September 26, 2014). "'Spotlight' filming at Fenway Park". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  25. ↑ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (September 30, 2014). "Rachel McAdams reporting for duty". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Ruffalo, Tucci in Hamilton for Spotlight shoot". CHCH News. October 7, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Spotlight Editor Tom McArdle In Conversation". Film Doctor. February 18, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  28. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony. "Michael Keaton Mark Ruffalo Boston Globe Film 'Spotlight' Opens Nov. 6". Deadline. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Spotlight DVD and Blu-ray". releases.com. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  30. ↑ Pamela McClintock (March 3, 2016). "And the Oscar for Profitability Goes to ... 'The Martian'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  31. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 9, 2015). "'Spectre' $70.4M Opening: Still 2nd Highest 007 Debut Behind 'Skyfall', But Not That Far From 'Quantum Of Solace' – Monday AM". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  32. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony. "Katniss On Track For $78M-80M 5-Day; 'Good Dinosaur' Eyes $58M-$62M; 'Creed' Punching $39M-$42M". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Spotlight (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Spotlight reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  35. ↑ Chang, Justin (September 3, 2015). "Venice Film Review: "Spotlight"". Variety. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  36. ↑ "Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2015 Award Winners" (PDF) (Press release). TIFF. September 20, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015. The second runner up is Tom McCarthy's Spotlight.
  37. ↑ Staff (October 28, 2015). "Cardinal O'Malley issues statement on the release of 'Spotlight' film". The Pilot. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  38. ↑ Wangsness, Lisa (October 29, 2015). "'Spotlight' shows how church was impelled to act, O'Malley says". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Spotlight". Catholic News. November 9, 2015.
  40. ↑ Barron, Robert (November 17, 2015). "Bishop Robert Barron gives his take on new "Spotlight" film". YouTube. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  41. 1 2 Allen Jr., John (October 23, 2015). "Vatican Radio praises movie on Boston Globe coverage of clergy abuse". Crux. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  42. ↑ Pellegrini, Luca (September 4, 2015). "A Venezia il film sulla pedofilia nella diocesi di Boston" (in Italian). Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  43. ↑ Kington, Tom (February 4, 2016). "Vatican panel kicks off meeting on sexual abuse by watching 'Spotlight'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  44. ↑ Scaraffia, Lucetta (February 29, 2016). "It's not an anti-Catholic film". L'Osservatore Romano. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  45. ↑ Coggan, Devan (February 29, 2016). "Vatican newspaper praises Spotlight, says it's 'not anti-Catholic'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  46. ↑ San Martín, Inés (February 29, 2016). "Vatican Radio, newspaper praise 'Spotlight' as courageous". Crux. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  47. ↑ Cieply, Michael (January 8, 2016). "Before the Oscars, Some Films Face the Truth Test". New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  48. ↑ Muldoon, Tim (November 27, 2015). "'Spotlight' Reveals Sexual Abuse, But Misrepresents a Good Man". Aleteia. Retrieved November 30, 2015. Dunn was also the head of public relations for Boston College.
  49. ↑ Encarnacao, Jack (November 26, 2015). "Globe reporters defend portrayal of Jack Dunn in movie". Boston Herald. Retrieved November 30, 2015. The scene depicts a fairly common exchange involving reporters who have unpleasant questions to ask and a skilled public relations person doing his best to frame a story in the most favorable way possible for the institution he is representing. That’s what Jack did that day.
  50. 1 2 Gettell, Oliver (March 15, 2016). "Jack Dunn feels 'vindicated' by Open Road Spotlight statement". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  51. 1 2 "Best of 2015: Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  52. ↑ "Here Are the AFI AWARDS 2015 Official Selections". American Film Institute. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  53. ↑ "Golden Globe Nominations: The Complete List". The Hollywood Reporter. December 10, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  54. ↑ "'Carol,' 'Spotlight,' 'Beasts of No Nation' Lead Spirit Awards Nominations". Variety. November 24, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  55. ↑ "SAG Awards Nominations: Complete List". Variety. December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  56. ↑ "'Carol' Takes Top Honors at New York Film Critics Awards". The Wall Street Journal. December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  57. ↑ "New York Film Critics Online Name 'Spotlight' Best Film of the Year". Variety. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  58. ↑ "Critics' Choice Award Nominations Led by 'Mad Max,' 'Fargo'". Variety. December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  59. ↑ "2015 nominees". International Press Academy. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  60. ↑ Tom Huddleston, Jr. (February 23, 2015). "Birdman is one of the lowest-grossing Oscar Best Picture winners ever". Fortune.
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