Rachel McAdams, left, Mark Ruffalo, Brian d’Arcy James, Michael Keaton and John Slattery in the movie “Spotlight.”
(Kerry Hayes / Open Road Films via AP)
Participant won its share of Oscars and critics prizes, but this film would have to be its most audacious success: a pulse-quickening gamble that took on real-life sexual predation in the Catholic Church. Just as movingly (and not only to this writer), “Spotlight” burnishes the righteous power of the press, chasing down a story on fumes and making a difference in the newsroom and beyond. There’s no weak link in the assembled cast, a group that includes Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, John Slattery and Liev Schreiber, all believable as pavement pounders for the Boston Globe. Comparing “Spotlight” to “All the President’s Men,” even flatteringly, was almost too-faint praise. It’s a movie that, if experienced at the right age, can turn someone into a journalist. (Starz) — Joshua Rothkopf