I watched Spotlight so you don't have to

Spotlight is the kind of movie the Academy Awards loves. It's one of those super serious movies you really have to put your hipster glasses on for and call it a "film." That, by itself, is certainly not a bad thing. There are, though, some issues I had with this movie that I need to tell you.

Spotlight earned a whopping 6 Oscar nominations. Film Editing, Original Screenplay, Directing (Tom McCarthy), Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Supporting Actress (Rachel McAdams), and the ultimate...Best Picture. It also features an impressive 95% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Summary of the movie:

Based on the true story of the investigation team called Spotlight at the newspaper the Boston Globe. In the early 2000's they investigated the accusations of child abuse in the Catholic Church. As they investigated, they began to discover corruption and cover-up at every level.


The Good:

Let's consider movies tables. Some are stylish, some cheap, some flashy. If the movie Spotlight were a table, it would be an extremely sturdy, well-built piece of furniture. Solid and precisely measured, it would be made of extremely hard wood. It would be something you could use and hand down to your kids like a true heirloom piece. The cast is powerful, and performances from all are rich and fantastic. Michael Keaton is one of my favorite actors, and he embodied the role of Spotlight leader. (Walter Robinson) The editing is timely and sharp. The direction is precise and confident. The look of the costumes and the Boston Globe offices is thoroughly and strikingly pedestrian. And, that's a good thing in this movie. The characters simply look real and starkly un-glamarous. The story is intriguing and deals with the role of media and the church in modern society.

The Bad:

Ok, using the same table analogy, Spotlight suffers from its own boredom. This table will last for years, but it is not exciting. It doesn't get the heart racing or shock you with twists at every turn. In fact, I would argue that I knew the entire movie before watching it. It is extremely dry and predictable. Is this why we go to the movies? For educational purposes? I mean, I already knew print journalism was dying and that the Catholic Church is guilty of horrible and unspeakable crimes against humanity. So, is this a story that urgently needed to be told? Sure, I didn't know the specific players in the investigation, but now I do. So, I guess Spotlight is the cinematic equivalent of a Wikipedia page.

That being said, it's easy to see why the Academy of Arts and Sciences loves this kind of movie. I mean,....sorry,....*ahem*..."film." Precisely because it is a film that was playing at my local art theater and not the ginormous cineplex. I had to wear my hipster glasses to watch it. I bet anything that the target demographic for this film is the 50 and over crowd, which, if I'm not mistaken, makes up much of the Academy voter base.

That's all I'm going to say about the demographics of the Academy voter base since so much attention  has been brought about by #OscarsSoWhite . No one wants to hear from a white dweeb like me on this subject.

So, considering the good and bad, would I recommend you dash out and slap down hard-earned cash to see Spotlight? Ultimately, I admire it, but don't love it. It is certainly educational and interesting, with some minor flares of emotion. Rent it, don't see it in the theater. I go to the movies to experience thrills, emotions, and escapism like that of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now THAT is a flashy table. And my favorite movie of 2015. And, in so many ways, the opposite of Spotlight.