Movie - Spotlight (8½/10)

The bitter-sweet and remarkable story of how The Boston Globe uncovered what they thought were 13 abusive catholic priests that turned out to be 90 and thousands of affected children. Some children blocked it and grew up into adults with well-adjusted lives, others still haunted by it and some didn’t make it.I love watching anything to do with my beloved local newspaper industry (my first career, spanning 17 years) but it’s awful to see so many people who’d been abused children interviewed on the big screen..Watching the old print presses are a delight and it’s strange to think not so long ago our computers were those big old monitors.It’s rewarding to see driven journalists working in the investigative Spotlight team chasing their story because it’s the right thing to do versus more recent reputations of hacking for non-important sleb stories. I don’t think anyone would have minded if they hacked priests phones if that meant stopping this level of abuse happening, mind. Except the Catholic Church of course.All four journalists working on this Pulitzer prize-winning story are depicted as being raised as Catholics and they all have their own reason for wanting to follow this through. I’m waiting with bated breath to see if any of them come up with their own dark story.The rain isn’t the only thing Boston has in common with Dublin, it is also catholic dominant and the church rules. People were too scared to talk and for some, it took a long time to realise that what the priest were doing was wrong, such is their family’s faith in the church. The priests were rock stars: ‘Who says no to God?’We learn how a priest managed to keep his job after he had gotten caught abusing – in other words, when a child was brave enough to tell. In the days before full use of the internet, the journalists spent days going through physical records to find the information they needed for proof, only to have the catholic church at the highest level block their every move. It’s astonishing to think of the church being above the law and outside of the legal system designed to protect the vulnerable.It rained during the 36 hours I spent in Boston on my way to explore New England (once I got through the traffic due to The Big Dig, mentioned in this film) so I’m glad there was a good budget for umbrellas amongst the costumers shopping list. Although like many good films it was also filmed in Canada. So, there is nothing to dislike about this film. Except for the true story.8½/10Smile factor 8/10 (for the newspaper scenes and the work ethic)PS I haven’t stopped singing Jennifer’ Hudson’s Spotlight since seeing this film.