26 February 2016.
SPOTLIGHT ****
Whatever your background, belief or religion, you will be shaken by this gripping, true account of tenacious newspaper reporting. It’s about the Boston Globe revealing in 2001-2002 the extent of the decades-long coverup of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Countless priests in the Boston area were molesting innocent children and the cases were being hushed-up by the Church and its followers. Until the tireless journalists of the Spotlight investigative team, who won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for the Globe, blew it wide open, creating a world-wide ripple.
Director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor) has made an almost documentary-like film which treats this highly-sensitive subject with a lucidity and discretion that is immensely moving. The thoroughness of his expose, along with the excellence of his ensemble cast, including Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci, makes for a work that will go down in the annals of cinema as a grand classic. This must-viewing has 6 Oscar nominations.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
Neptune at the 2015 Locarno film festival in Switzerland
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