combs-84487 In 2001, The Boston Globe worked to provide proof regarding the cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. Editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) assigned the team of journalists to investigate the allegations against the priests for molesting boys. Editor Robby (Michael Keaton), reporters Michael (Mark Ruffalo), Matty (Brian d'Arcy James) and Sacha (Rachel McAdams) interview the victims and try to obtain the documents from the court. This team at The Boston Globe were referred to as Spotlight. The movie Spotlight is a drama/crime film based on a true story.This film really brings to light what went on in the Roman Catholic Church and still goes on today. It is shocking how the Church could have the power to keep this a secret. It's even more surprising that government officials and attorneys have been controlled by the church to turn a blind eye. It's heartbreaking how so many families with children were affected.All the actors did a great job in this film. They each brought something unique to their characters that brought them together as a great team for The Boston Globe. One of my favorite lines in the movie was by Michael Keaton when he says, "Which story do you want us to write? Because we are writing one of them." Loved the power in this statement. There are several other scenes that bring the feeling of intensity to this story. One is when Peter (Paul Guilfoyle) is talking to Robby (Keaton) in the bar telling him that a lot of people need the church, basically telling him he needs to leave this alone. Then when Mike comes running out of the courthouse after getting proof of the sensitive documents disclosing everything about the Church. This scene goes through a passage of time of Mike reading what he found to being present in front of his colleagues, sharing this information from the documents. The scene gets intense between Robby and Mike because Mike wants to print this now, but Robby says no because Marty told them to get the "system."If you like movies based on a true-story, this is a must-see. The story line along with the added sound and lighting will keep you in suspense rooting for this newspaper team to get the answers needed to uncover the truth. In my opinion, the film bears a close comparison to A Few Good Men with Tom Cruise as a military lawyer defending two U.S. Marines charged with killing a fellow Marine at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.Both of these great movies are similar in that they are searching for the truth to uncover a conspiracy.

DKosty123 I do not understand why a movie released in 2015, a year when Birdman won Best Picture, did not get the award for the year it was released. This movie is a great gritty crime drama that is much better than that other picture. It is nice that it was named best in 2016, but by awarding the underserving Birdman in 2015 instead of this movie, the academy chose a flaky comedy film over an excellent film in 2015.It also robbed The Revenant and Denzell Washington's Fences more deserved attention than they films got. Especially Fences, which deserved more attention than they got, and one of these should have gotten best picture in 2016. So somehow Spotlight got the award a year late from an Awards organiztion that is a few shingles short. (Maybe they need the new shingles shot?)Spotlight takes a great true story and elevates it into a great film, and it should not have taken 14 months for this movie to receive the Best Picture. I do give Spotlight kudos for not changing the story for dramatic effect. The story is dramatic enough and the writing realized this. Morgan Freeman annouced this winner at the ceremony.This is a film still worth catching.

dumpthatstuffhere I'm just curious as to what people are thinking if they can give this movie anything less than a nine. The moment I left the theater I predicted that it would win best picture even though once the Oscars began it was considered a longshot.

Asif Khan (asifahsankhan) It's a story of unglamorous leg-work rather than thundering revelation. The drama here comes from the detail, and the reporters' slow realisation that their investigation could change the world far beyond Boston's city limits. The Church's power is revealed as smoke, mirrors and an unwarranted sense of deference, with journalism at its best proving its worth.Director Thomas McCarthy's great strength is in his refusal to pander to audiences, or to default to easy answers; the correct reaction to the team's work is horror rather than jubilation. And while admirable, the reporters take some blame upon themselves. This crisis, after all, developed under their noses and it took an outsider to force them to examine it. Similarly, the cast (Mark Ruffalo was freakin' good!) modestly play down their characters' achievements and reputations. There is no Oscar-bait grandstanding (well, maybe one moment) and they all look quietly dowdy without indulging in any unnecessary uglification. These journalist greats could happily have rubbed shoulders with Woodward and Bernstein in All The President's Men, and they bring down an even bigger institution.Talky and intelligent, this lacks the glib edge of Aaron Sorkin or the poppy zip of Tarantino. Given the subject matter, too much lightness would be inappropriate. Instead, its tone is led by its characters, moving from scepticism to revelation and the uncomfortable sense that we should all feel guilty for ignoring the secrets too hard to acknowledge.