Spotlight (2015)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Michael Rezendes	Mark Ruffalo
Walter "Robby" Robinson	Michael Keaton
Sacha Pfeiffer	Rachel McAdams
Marty Baron	Liev Schreiber
Ben Bradlee, Jr.	John Slattery
Matt Carroll	Brian d'Arcy James
Mitchell Garabedian	Stanley Tucci	½
Eric MacLeish	Billy Crudup	½
Peter Conley	Paul Guilfoyle
Cardinal Bernard Law	Len Cariou

Review

Meticulous and a little lifeless, but still engrossing study of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese in Boston during the early 2000s. The nature of the story makes it important, but writer/director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor) relies a little too much on this importance. His approach is like that of a news reporter, and the evocation therefore efficient and easily forgotten in much the same way. There's some fine acting in here though, especially from Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton who create personas a little stretch from their most usual. With a little more verve and zest from McCarthy, their contribution and this film could have been defining – instead of merely solid and interesting.