Home video review: Brilliant 'Spotlight' shines on the church

February 19, 2016 at 12:30AM
Rachel McAdams in "Spotlight."
Rachel McAdams in “Spotlight.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Like the 1976 political thriller "All the President's Men," "Spotlight" is a journalism procedural, something that doesn't sound very sexy on paper. But director/writer Tom McCarthy has made captivating drama out of reporters unearthing the Catholic church's coverup of abusive priests in Boston. A true story based on a Boston Globe investigative team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003, "Spotlight" has an ensemble cast that includes Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo, both nominated for supporting Oscars, and Michael Keaton, who plays the head of the team who had dismissed the story years earlier. Extras include a roundtable discussion with the actual Globe reporters.

about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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