Devin King | Reporter
Friday, Nov. 20; 10:30 a.m.

It is rare when a film can get aspects of real life perfectly right. Hollywood has been making movies for over a century now, so it should come as no surprise that so many films have enough of tropes to result in an absence of realism. It seems to have reached the point where movie tropes are difficult to notice because they are so common now.

Luckily “Spotlight” is a breath of fresh air in a world filled with trope-infested movies. It nails all of the aspects of being a real journalist so well.

“Spotlight” is a captivating retelling of the Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church’s cover-ups of child abuse which inspired a 2002 article that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. The members of the Boston Globe’s investigative reporting team, Spotlight, are the main protagonists of the story.

As Spotlight advances into their investigation, corruption and deep tragedies become visible within Boston. The investigative team is then forced to make tough calls and ask difficult questions, but the film makes it clear that these difficulties are all part of their jobs.

“Spotlight” is not a film with very complex plot, major good versus evil conflicts or even high stakes. It is a story about people doing their job, people who are portrayed very authentically. The film is still exceptionally compelling to watch as there are difficult decisions to be made.

With Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Brian d’Arcy James in the lead roles, “Spotlight” has an incredibly strong cast. All the performances really captured how journalists truly act and do a terrific job at doing so. It would be unfair to say that one actor gave the best performance.

“Spotlight” has a lot going for it. Its narrative and characters feel so real, that it almost feels like a documentary, yet its production value and aesthetics make it clear that it is a work of art.