Spotlight

First Hit:  Excellent writing, outstanding acting, powerful scenes, and a story that turned out to be spot-on.

This is a story about how Catholic Priests took advantage of young boys (and girls) by molesting them and getting away with it for years.

It begins with the Boston Globe getting a new Chief Editor named Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) and while doing his due diligence of current staff, discovers that the Globe has a small group of reporters called “Spotlight”. This team digs deep to uncover meaningful stories that make a difference to Boston and beyond.

An old article comes across his desk about priest abuse and he asks Walter “Robby” Robertson (Michael Keaton), head of the Spotlight team, if this is the kind of story they work on. The team of Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) are asked to take a deeper look. As they begin to dig, the level of cover up by Cardinal Law (Len Cariou) and his crew of Bishops and Priests becomes grossly apparent.

Many people are involved with the cover up including the creation of a cottage business where lawyers and their law firms defending the church reap high fees while the abused is paid next to nothing and told to keep quiet. There were many heart breaking interviews with the abused including Eric Macleish (Billy Crudup) who, with needle marks in his arm, tells how this has affected his life and his family.

The script was sharp, always on point, and reflected a caring towards giving the audience a clear understanding of the problem. This film never lagged and reflected the urgency required to make a difference.

Ruffalo was superb. His ability to be smart, urgent and both careful and reckless and the same time was perfect. Schreiber was excellent as the steady hand looking to make the paper relevant again and seeing that this story was worthy of the effort being put in by his staff. Keaton was amazing as the leader of Spotlight, knowing when to reign in or let his staff loose. The confrontation with Ruffalo was respectfully wonderful and intense. McAdams was strong and especially good in her interviews with the abused. Her empathy and ability to obtain information was excellent. James was wonderful. I loved his caring about the home near his house and how he wanted to ensure everyone knew about the danger lurking inside for young kids. Crudup was so strong in his portrayal of an abused man that I felt his pain while he spoke. Cariou was very good as the Cardinal who tried to come across as Teflon. One of the most outstanding parts is by Stanley Tucci as an independent attorney working for the abused. His role was amazingly great because of him. McCarthy and Josh Singer wrote a remarkably strong pointed script. There was no fat, just great dialogue. McCarthy directed this film with a purpose, to tell a difficult story with clarity of purpose.

Overall:  I was fully engaged and entrenched in this story in every way.

Truth

First Hit:  This struck home because of how two careers were ruined by the power of people in high position and the unwillingness to acknowledge the “Truth”.

I won’t talk about how this strikes home, and I will apologize ahead of time for any political bent this review may take. George W. Bush is protected here by his political strategists (see previous review of “Our Brand Is Crisis”) to divert the public from hearing the truth.

These strategist and doubt creators twisted enough controversy about the investigation towards Bush’s lost year (AWOL) of military service commitment that Dan Rather (Robert Redford) and Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) lost their jobs.

The story is how Mapes, a prize winning producer, discovers documents that indicate Bush went AWOL from his military duty. As she dug into the information it became clear to her and her team that this story was true, therefore CBS ran the story on 60 minutes with Rather telling the tale. The timing of this was crucial because Bush was running for President.

Bush’s team found ways to bring up questions about the information that was published. In pouncing on this, the pressure on CBS was enormous and they kowtowed to the bullies of government and sponsors who supported Bush. There was an investigation done and in the near last scene, Mapes tells the committee why they are wrong.

The most beautiful scenes are when Mapes and Rather are together talking. It is evident that there is a respectful father/daughter, mentor/mentee relationship built on mutual respect for each other’s work. When the brief and actual clips of Bush are shown, you see and feel the mealy small minded way Bush comments on his win - throwing up is an acceptable response.

This is what makes this film good; the mixture of relevant information and how it is presented. Just before the credits role, the audience gets to see that the research did not disprove Mapes’ story and that people’s lives were adversely affected by telling (or not telling) the “Truth”.

Blanchett is amazing in telling this story. I was captured by her character. Redford is perfect as Dan Rather. Topher Grace as researcher Mike Smith showed a lot of intensity – not sure it was needed. Dennis Quaid as Lt. Colonel Roger Charles, fact finder and conservative throttle for Mapes was strong. James Vanderbilt wrote a very strong compelling script and directed these fine actors and story is a clear honest way.

Overall:  I like this film because of the story it told.

Steve Jobs

First Hit:  I liked the intensity brought forth in this film of Steve Jobs as played by Michael Fassbender and developed by writer Aaron Sorkin.

I’ve seen a number of Steve Jobs films and have read Walter Isaacson’s book and numerous articles about Steve and what works for me about this one, as a biographical drama, is that it takes 3 product launches and builds the Jobs’ persona and struggles around and through these launches. And although these launches probably didn’t have all the interactions shown this this film, it gives the audience a view of the man.

The often rumored Jobs' intensity and single mindedness is well represented in these 3 product launches: The issues and his responses around the demo’s not working, his distaste for Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston) the mother of his daughter, his lack of acknowledgment, support and love for his daughter Lisa (Makenzie Moss – 5, Ripley Sobo – 9, and Perla Haney-Jardine – 19), the struggle with the Apple Board of Directors, his admiration and anger towards John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), the friendship and differences between himself and Steve Wozniak’s (Seth Rogen) view of their relationship and computers, and how much he depended on his Marketing Executive Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet).

Sorkin’s script is crisp and brings out many of Steve’s strengths and challenges while Danny Boyle’s direction puts all this on the screen in an interesting, dynamic way.

Fassbender is strong and intense in delivering the Jobs identity. Rogan is very good as Woz and the scene in the final product launch was excellent. Moss, Sobo, and Haney-Jardine, especially, were excellent as Lisa in their different ages. Daniels was outstanding as Sculley. Winslet was amazing as Hoffman and kept the whole film centered. Sorkin wrote an marvelous script and kept it focused. Boyle clearly did an excellent job of directing the characters through the script and scenes.

Overall:  I was fully engaged in this film and all the ups and downs experienced by each character.

Bridge of Spies

First Hit:  The difference between Spielberg films and other director films is always attention detail through craftsmanship – this film excels in every way.

When a film supplies and fulfills details around my childhood memories and does it with great storytelling, I’m hooked.

I remember the cold war. We use to practice diving under our desks and covering our necks with our hands in case “The Bomb” went off. We were told, we’d see the flashing light of the bomb in LA (I grew up in Southern California) and when we did see the flash we were to "drop, duck and cover".

The way Spielberg crafts the era and the story of three men, Rudolf Able (Mark Rylance) accused Russian spy, high altitude U2 surveillance pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) and lawyer turned negotiator James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) was sublime.

The director takes his time, gives the audience relevant information, and then crafts a story that is interesting and fully engaging. Every scene is crafted to share an emotion or add to the audience’s understanding of story. The CIA agent following Able when the camera moves around the car to introduce the suspicion – perfect.

The story is about how an insurance lawyer, Donovan, is hired by the US Government to first defend Able in the US Court of law and then he’s recruited to negotiate a prisoner swap. The swap was for Powers who was a U2 pilot that was shot down over Russia. Because we were in the midst of the cold war with Russia neither government would acknowledge that they were talking with each other.

The feel of East Berlin, where the swap happened, was perfectly dreary. The relevant side story was that Donovan wanted an additional person included in the trade, Fredrick Pryor (Will Rogers). In this side story Pryor, a student, had gotten caught on the wrong side of the wall and was being used by the East Germans to make a name for their government. It also showed the strength of conviction of Donovan to get what he wanted, to be a humanitarian and how good he was at negotiating.

My favorite line spoken a few times in the film was:  “Would it help?”

Hanks was superb. He’ll probably be nominated for an award during award season. I would also say that Rylance was equally superb in his supporting role. He’s perfect and his ability to portray a subdued man on a mission who can be trusted is brilliant. Stowell was good as the U2 pilot. Matt Charman, Ethan and Joel Coen wrote a compelling, interesting engaging story, but it was Spielberg’s direction through clear vision that makes this film absolutely great.

Overall:  This is a perfect slice of history presented in a way that is simply great storytelling.

The Walk

First Hit:  This film kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Yes there are parts of the film I wanted a fast forward button so that I could see Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) walk the wire between the twin towers, however all the parts are necessary and they provide a great lead up to "The Walk".

In fact, I almost felt as though there wasn’t enough information in the film to make me feel sure that he’d practiced walking the wire enough to meet the challenge and goal he wanted to complete:  To string a high wire between the World Trade Center (WTC) towers and walk between them.

There’s enough biographical information to set the stage that Philippe marches to his own drum – regardless of the circumstance. He meets Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) whom he connects with, romances, and she becomes his muse. There are wonderful scenes with her and Philippe, but my favorite is when they come out of the subway and she sees the twin towers for the first time and says:  “woha" - it was perfect.

The team Petit put together to assist him were perfect, and each had their beliefs, strengths, and foibles. As they prepare for “The Walk”, it is easy to get engaged with the challenge. To provide expertise, Philippe seeks out wizened senior wire-walker Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) who teaches him the most important aspects of rigging and safety. Their interaction and mutual respect is obvious.

The use of 3-D is absolutely perfect. This film must be seen in 3-D. The magnificence of the feat, the view of NYC, and the view down from the wire is almost too hard to watch. This film is about courage, single mindedness, and commitment. This film is so filled with tension that there were times I had to close my eyes.

Gordon-Levitt, despite the slightly odd French accent was fantastic. He held single mindedness and the air of invincibility, perfectly. Le Bon was sublime. She was perfect as a muse, friend, lover and believer, all wrapped into one person. Kingsley was very good as the mentor and guide. Everyone in the support team was fantastic. The NYC policemen were amazing as were the WTC construction workers. I also loved that the writer and director included the mysterious visitor that came to the top of the tower viewed what Petit was doing and left. The use of voice over was also very effective. Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne wrote a wonderful screenplay and Zemeckis’ direction was perfect.

Overall:  This was a jaw dropping, interesting, and powerful film.