Spotlight (9/10): A Love Letter to Investigative Journalism

"It could have been you, it could have been me, it could have been any of us. We gotta nail these scumbags! We gotta show people that nobody can get away with this; Not a priest, or a cardinal or a freaking pope!"

Good investigative journalism is a dying medium in today's world where most media outlets are in a rush to get the exclusive and tell the story first. The same could be said for the film industry, but there are always exceptions because for every dozens of films like Alvin and the Chipmunks, we get a Spotlight. Director, Tom McCarthy, takes his time to tell this brilliant true story through a tight script that slowly begins to uncover the truth behind one of the Catholic Church's greatest cover-ups. It is a reminder of how important good journalism can be in today's world. Hopefully after watching Spotlight more people will begin reading their news from trusty newspapers instead of simply reading headlines from any internet article. It was refreshing to see a film like this portraying what good journalism is all about without taking any shortcuts. As a communication major the subject matter really appealed to me and I felt very emotional during a couple of scenes. McCarthy did a fantastic job at going through the every day ordeal of investigating. If you notice there is barely any reference towards these characters backgrounds or their family life. The entire film focuses entirely on their profession and that is what makes this such a powerful film because it avoids any kind of manipulation into character development. I loved the attention to detail that McCarthy brought to the film and how he decided to exclusively build it all around the investigation.

Bringing the true events of an investigation concerning the child molestation cover-up by the Catholic Church to life in a film might not seem like an interesting subject matter, but McCarthy handles the material with grace. He manages to slowly build the tension by going through the everyday ordeals of serious journalism. Spotlight is the name given to the investigative section of the Globe comprised of four reporters that take their time to research an important issue and build a compelling story. In this case they discover a link between several child molestation incidents with some priests from the Boston area and how the Church has repeatedly covered up for them by simply relocating them to other areas. These four reporters are given the gigantic task of trying to unmask this secretly huge system of defense built by the Catholic Church. The film accomplishes what it sets out to do from the first frame and it delivers one of the best films about investigative journalism in years. 

This is a team effort, there are no lead performances in this film. Michael Keaton might be the leader of the Spotlight team, but Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Brian d'Arcy James all deliver strong performances. Ruffalo has received much of the acclaim because he has some of the more emotional moments on screen, and that verbal standoff off with Keaton is powerful, but everyone on screen delivers solid performances. Liev Schreiber is also outstanding as the new editor in chief who arrives at the Globe and comes up with the idea for the story. And Stanley Tucci of course is always mesmerizing any time he's on screen. Spotlight has probably my favorite ensemble cast of the year. I was a huge fan of this film and of course comparisons with All The President's Men are justified.

My Review: Fading Gigolo (4/10)

"This could definitely be the beginning of a very beautiful relationship between the three of us."

Fading Gigolo is John Turturro's fifth turn at the director's chair for which he also starred and wrote the screenplay, although Woody Allen's participation in the film makes you wonder how much of a factor he was in the screenplay because there are several scenes that you know were influenced by him. Some of his classic trademarks are found in the script as he talks about death and sex in a quirky way. The plot is a bit ridiculous, especially when the subplots involving the Brooklyn Jewish community begin to take center stage midway through the film. As long as the story focused on the chemistry between Turturro and Allen the film seemed delightful and witty, but when the other characters began to get involved the film lost its focus and identity. It didn't work for me as neither a comedy nor a drama, but there are some solid scenes when the two lead actors are on screen together. 

I don't know how much influence Allen really had on Turturro's overall script, but unfortunately when the story centered on Turturro and the female characters it didn't really work well. The female characters seemed one dimensional and their dialogues were weak and awkward. It is a shame because Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara are great actresses who could have lifted this film with stronger material to work with. The entire concept of this film is absurd, but Turturro almost pulled it off when the screenplay centered on his chemistry with Woody Allen. If the two would have shared more scenes together I think this would've been much more enjoyable. It is a very uneven film and one that has divided audiences. It's success might depend on how much of a Woody Allen fan you are. 

My Review: Goon (5/10)

"Everybody loves the soldiers until they come home and stop fighting."

Goon is a Canadian sports comedy directed by Michael Dowse who has quite a big cult following in Canada due to his 2002 feature film, Fubar. Goon was received really well by critics due to its slapstick and vulgar style of comedy, but I really found this film rather dull. I don't remember laughing once and despite having a strong performance from Seann William Scott (probably the best of his career) I couldn't manage to feel a connection with this sports film. I am a huge sports fan and tend to like these films despite the cliches, but Goon lacked something and it failed to draw me into the story or make me care for these characters. The violence in this comedy is way over the top and the hockey sequences were pretty great, but aside from that I didn't enjoy most of this film. It was just OK but nothing I would be recommending. Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg (who has written much funnier work with Superbad and Pineapple Express) adapted the screenplay from Adam Frattasio and Doug Smith's book "Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey." The film is loosely based on Smith's hockey experience as a minor league player and there are a few other references to some other hockey players for the more enlightened hockey fans. Despite not being a huge hockey fan I do like the sport, but this film worked more as a crude slapstick comedy than an actual hockey drama. I wanted to laugh, but I just never found this film as hilarious as so many others have. They've gone as far as calling this the Slap Shot (Hill's classic 70's film) of this generation, but I don't even think this ranks among the top 10 sports comedies I've seen this decade. The only thing it has in common with that film is the sport. The film is ugly and bloody, and I never found those scenes funny. This isn't your typical William Scott sort of comedy, it is very different, and despite this being his best work I couldn't enjoy as much as I wanted to. I thought the love story between him and Alison Pill's was pretty heartwarming, but I would've liked to see some more of that relationship. 

Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) works as a bouncer in a small bar which is an underachievement considering he comes from a family of doctors. His father, Dr. Glatt (Eugene Levy), is not very content with his decision of not wanting to attend college and he is always comparing him to the rest of the family. But Doug knows he isn't smart and doesn't seem to find his place in life. He loves hanging out with his best friend, Pat (Jay Baruchel), a foul mouthed hockey obssesed fan, and the two of them enjoy watching hockey goon, Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber), who they really admire. One night, at a local minor league hockey game Doug gets in a fight with one of the hockey players and the coach of the Highlanders decides to invite him to the tryouts. Despite not having any hockey skills whatsoever, he catches the coach's eyes thanks to his great fighting skills. He also catches Eva's (Alison Pill) eyes in a bar one night and they become romantically involved. Doug seems to have finally found his place in life, but becoming a minor league hockey player won't be an easy ride. 

The film does follow the familiar sports cliche where the lead character's team slowly begins climbing its way to the top after a disastrous start, but it is a very different kind of comedy. Scott gives a credible performance as this simple minded athlete. Liev Schreiber and Alison Pill both give strong performances in their secondary roles and I wish they would've been a little more involved in the story. Goon is a raunchy and bloody comedy that fails to deliver what is most important in a comedy: laughs. Scott plays a character who happens to be extremely polite despite his aggression, and in a way I guess that contrast is what was appealing to the people who liked this film. Somewhere under all that violence and cursing the film had something sort of sweet in Doug, but somehow that never appealed to me. 

My Review: Salt (6/10)

¨My name is Evelyn Salt.¨

Salt isn`t your smart, suspenseful typical thriller, it isn´t The Bourne Identity, it simply is a mindless blockbuster action film starring one of the best action stars of our decade: Angelina Jolie. Yes, I said best action star, and perhaps in a couple of decades she will be staring in a female version of The Expendables. Jolie is fun to watch on screen and we can`t seem to take our eyes off her and that is why we went to go see this movie in the first place because I doubt anyone went into this picture expecting a smart film when they heard Kurt Wimmer wrote the original screenplay, the man who brought us Ultraviolet. Director, Phillip Noyce worked with Angelina Jolie in the past with The Bone Collector, before she had become such a huge star, and he is also known for directing Tom Clancy movies such as Clear and Present Danger. The problem with Salt is that Wimmer is no Clancy and the plot is pretty ridiculous, but what saves him is that Jolie is a pretty dependable star and we want to believe pretty much anything she does. Angelina seems to be in pretty good shape as she runs for the entire 100 minutes and jumps from bridges, moving vehicles, elevator shafts, and helicopters. She is able to single handedly outrun the CIA, FBI, and whoever stands in her way, and can even get past White House security. When you have so many absurd situations and plot holes the best thing you can do is rely on Jolie to jump from one mind numbing scene to another.

Angelina Jolie is Salt, a CIA agent who won the respect of her colleagues after suffering as a prisoner in North Korea without giving away any information. Her boss, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), rescues her by exchanging her for another prisoner. Salt`s husband Mike (August Diehl) is the reason why she`s still alive because the CIA had made it clear they would sacrifice her for the greater good, but his insistence pays off and Salt is forever indebted to him.  Twelve years later, on her anniversary, a Russian man comes to the agency saying he has crucial information. His name is Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) and Salt has to interrogate him. He tells her a story about an organization called ¨Day X¨ that`s destined to destroy the United States. He claims that a powerful man has trained a group of kids to infiltrate the country and pass as Americans, but they are actually Russian spy’s who will attack on Day X. One of these spies will kill the Russian President, and her name is Evelyn Salt. Winter doesn`t believe these claims, but Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) says he has to arrest her. Salt argues she isn`t a spy, but she is worried about her husband and decides to escape knowing that her actions might remove all doubts about her being a spy. From this point on the film became a high speed chase which is a relief because the plot was going downhill and our mind needed to be diverted.

I thought the movie was going to completely lose me in the first 15 minutes when Orlov showed up and the plot was unfolded. The ¨Day X¨ organization seemed completely ridiculous and I was hating the movie, but after the action began at least my mind was distracted and I was entertained with the chase scenes. Jolie made the otherwise ridiculous movie entertaining. There was plenty of action and the movie could be enjoyed simply as a blockbuster movie, but don`t expect an intelligent thriller, and keep your mind off the plot and the ridiculous twists. Liev Schreiber and Ejiofor were decent in their supporting roles and did what they could with the terrible script. The only reason why I enjoyed this movie and had fun was because of Angelina Jolie who is a bankable action star, but if you happen not to be a fan of her work then I guarantee you will hate this film. This is one of those movies you enjoy seeing once, but probably wouldn`t want to watch again. It is a fun, but forgettable blockbuster action movie.

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My Review: Defiance (6/10)

"1941. Germany occupies Belorussia. SS death squads and local police round up Jews. Within weeks 50,000 are murdered. 1,000,000 more await deportation and death."

Defiance opens very abruptly and we are introduced to the harsh situation of the war from the get go. This is a good film, but it is difficult to set it apart from other movies of the genre which deal with the War and the persecution of the Jews. This is by no means Schinlder`s List although it tries very hard to look like it. The characters are just thrown at us right away and there is no time to identify with them. It seems that there was so much the director, Edward Zwick, wanted to include in the film that he hurried to get everything on screen and forgot to focus on the characters. The first 20 minutes felt like Zwick was trying to fast forward everything to the main part of the movie which was establishing the Jew camp in the woods. Defiance is based on the true story of the Bielski brothers who hid thousands of persecuted Jews in a camp in the woods where they battled cold and hunger together for several years. This will probably be the least memorable of Zwick`s films because it lacks what other of his movies had which was more character depth, but this is still a good movie, just not as good as his other films like Glory, Legends of the Fall, Shakespeare in Love (for which he won an Oscar), The Last Samurai, or Blood Diamond. What can`t be denied is that Zwick always gets the best performances from his actors in his movies and Craig Daniels was not the exception here. He was great along with Liev Schreiber in this movie.

The movie takes place in 1941 in a village of Belarus that the Germans just occupied and have begun killing the Jews that reside there. Zus (Liev Schreiber from X-Men Origins) and Asael (Jamie Bell from Billy Elliot) Bielski return home from the woods to find their parents killed by German officials. The only survivor is their little brother Aron (George MacKay) who was hiding when the incident took place. The three brothers flee to the woods where they meet their elder brother Tuvia (Daniel Craig from Casino Royale) and together they decide to hide in the woods and plan their revenge on the officials who murdered their parents. They try to find a way to gather enough food to survive while at the same time find weapons in order to be able to defend themselves. Many other runaway Jews end up in the woods as well and together they form a sort of community where each is assigned specific roles and duties. Tuvia becomes the leader of the group and forms a sort of resistance against the Germans. Tuvia and Zus have some disputes because Tuvia keeps on accepting more and more people in the camp and offering them refugee while Zus wants to fight against the Germans. Zus ends up abandoning the group along with some other men and join the Russian army. The plot mostly follows the hardships that Tuvia and his people had to endure in the cold weather dealing with hunger and also persecution from German officials. There is a lot of drama, but plenty of action and suspense as well because the plot also follows Zus fighting alongside the Russian army.

The movie really seems to drag at some points and during others it seems as though it is going to pick up but it never really manages to do so. It is a good film, but it seemed to have lacked some more character development in order to be memorable. The film gave me the feeling that something was missing and all the pieces didn`t seem to fit together so smoothly. Daniel Craig gave a good performance along with the rest of the cast and that is what perhaps gives this movie a passing grade along with the heartwarming and powerful story that these films based on true events tend to produce in the viewers. Defiance is not a bad film, it just doesn`t live up to some of the other films that Zwick has directed.

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