We Need More Spotlight

Credit Tom McCarthy, director and co-author of the original screenplay, for which he and Josh Singer won the Academy Award, with bringing this story to incredible life. The plot moves with the stubborn, deliberate momentum of a diesel train hurdling toward a ravine with a missing bridge. Its power builds with each cut, and the original score by Howard Shore is a dreadfully haunting tour guide that blends each scene into the next until the mere sound of its simple piano melody predicts the trauma of what’s sure to come. The all star cast delivers with such a pure authenticity that we wonder at times if they might actually be the players involved . Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo were deservedly nominated in supporting roles, not to mention Liev Schreiber’s transformation as soft spoken editor, Marty Baron, and what I think may be the overlooked performances of recently revived powerhouse Michael Keaton and the untouchable Stanley Tucci.

This isn’t a review of Spotlight, but to get where I’m going I had to give credit where credit was earned. My praise for the movie is utmost and it’s left me still thinking about it a week after I saw it. I can’t lie I’ve seen it twice since then, it’s that good. My final deduction is that it’s something more than just an amazing movie. It’s something much more. It’s a savior, an omen, and I’m hoping an inspiration for the future of Hollywood. We need more movies like Spotlight. This story was told less than 15 years after it actually happened, and that’s rare for Hollywood. Perhaps it’s Tinsel Town’s sensitivity of portraying real life characters that are still alive and well enough to sue, or the unwillingness of parties involved to sign on that makes today’s studios reluctant to go with films like this, so I congratulate newcomer Open Road Films for their trailblazing bravery. Maybe it took a new studio to break the mold.

It’s important that we use film to revisit these recent yet seemingly distant events, and that’s because we can’t trust the nightly news to remind us. Our daily lives are busy and complicated, even for we New Englanders. We all work hard, we want to stay informed, but we have limited time with which to do so. The lucky ones can get an hour of news 5 nights a week, and lots of us are forced to get our info through Late Night with Stephen Colbert or even (gulp) Facebook. News cycles are so competitive and the new world so complex that even the biggest tragedies are off the front page in a week, and out of our collective consciousness 6 months later. Movies can bring that back. Movies, and maybe what Spotlight’s saying is, journalism, can make those stories relevant again, but it’s up to them. It’s up to Hollywood. They have towant these stories to be re-told, they have to believe they need to be.

I think the trend has begun, and critically acclaimed films like Jobs andStraight Outta Compton have been lucrative risks. Open Roads Filmswill also be releasing Oliver Stone’s next work, Snowden, later this year, so it l hope the ball is rolling. If there’s ever been a time for Hollywood to copycat, it’s now. Stop trying to make the next Hunger Games, the new super hero spin, or the best zombie comedy ever, go out and find the next story. Find the cautionary tale, the news blip that faded too quickly. They’re out there, I know of a dozen myself. Chances are your cast, your crew and everyone involved will want to make this film. They’ll want to tell this story, they’ll believe in this story and that will show on screen. And when your producers are accepting their Oscar for best picture, the entire cast and crew will proudly share that stage, as it did this year. Give Stowe and every other small town in America a chance. Give us more Spotlight.