Newspaper Movie: Spotlight
As a newspaper obsessive, I’ve been compiling a list of films set in newspapers, you can find the others here. If you have a newspaper-related movie to recommend, that I’ve missed, please let me know.
SPOTLIGHT (2015)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Newsroom quotient: 5
Rolling presses vibe: 3
Newspaper featured: The Boston Globe
Newsroom used for filming: The Boston Globe and a film set
Running time: 129 minutes
Tom McCarthy's film is set inside The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative journalist unit in the United States.
The film starts in 2001 with the arrival of Martin 'Marty' Baron, the new Editor of The Globe. The film hints that the paper had previously reported on the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, but hadn’t followed it up as Baron would have expected. Not having grown up in the shadow of the Catholic Church, the new editor lacks the reverence that holds back the native Bostonians and he prompts the Spotlight team to investigate further.
There are many ready to guide Marty in the ways of the church in Boston, which only seems to strengthen his resolve. The Spotlight team go on to uncover the widespread abuse of children by the Catholic priests, an investigation that earned The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. I won't spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it, but I think it's safe to say it's a matter of record that the institution of the church itself wasn't without blame.
The four-person team is played by Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Micheal Keaton and Brian d'Arcy James. For me Mark Ruffalo was the standout, playing the passionate dogged Michael Rezendes. The film received six Oscar nominations, taking home Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
Assistant Managing Editor of The Globe at this time, Ben Bradlee Jr, (John Slattery) is the son of Ben Bradlee the former editor of The Washington Post. Bradlee (senior) was Editor at The Post during the Pentagon Paper investigation and the Watergate Scandal. Bradlee senior is played by Tom Hanks in the movie The Post and then by Jason Robarts in All The President's Men.
