Movie Analysis: “Spotlight” — Plot

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of watching movies:

To be a good screenwriter, you need to have a broad exposure to the world of film. Every movie you see is a potential reference point for your writing, everything from story concepts you generate to characters you develop to scenes you construct. Moreover people who work in the movie business constantly reference existing movies when discussing stories you write; it’s a shorthand way of getting across what they mean or envision.

But most importantly, you need to watch movies in order to ‘get’ how movie stories work. If you immerse yourself in the world of film, it’s like a Gestalt experience where you begin to grasp intuitively scene composition, story structure, character functions, dialogue and subtext, transitions and pacing, and so on.

Let me add this: It’s important to see movies as they get released so that you stay on top of the business. Decisions get made in Hollywood in large part depending upon how movies perform, so watching movies as they come out puts you in the same head space as reps, producers, execs, and buyers.

This week’s movie: Spotlight which won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Picture, written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy. You may download. the script here.

Our schedule for discussion this week:

Monday: General Comments
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

For those of you who have not seen the movie, do not click MORE as we will be trafficking in major spoilers. If you have seen Spotlight, I invite you to join me in breaking down and analyzing the movie.

The plot to Spotlight is just about as straight-ahead as you can get in a contemporary movie. There is the prologue set in 1974, which sets into motion the ‘authority winks at crime’ dynamic which is central to the story, then jump forward to 2001. Everything subsequent to that takes place in a total linear fashion. I can see two reasons for taking this simplistic approach to the narrative:

• It reinforces the step-by-step process of the journalistic investigation as the reporters diligently worked the case.
• It keeps the ‘spotlight’ on the case itself, no fancy editorial sleights of hand to distract from it.

There are several subplots, each centering on a key character, all directly involving the journalists, most notably Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (Michael Keaton). The narrative cross-cuts between these characters as they participate in the investigation, using Robby to bounce back and forth between his more administrative type of function interfacing with Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) and going out into the field to call in favors, even partner up with Sacha to confront Macliesh (Billy Crudup).

The pace of the story is a slow burn with an incremental building of tension and stakes, and again I think this is a conscious choice to underscore the nature of the actual investigation itself, old school journalism at work, breaking down a story piece by laborious piece.

The interesting thing is how the story manages to sustain our interest and it does that in several ways. First, there is the case itself which as it grows in scope becomes more and more monstrous in nature. Second, the judicious use of the molestation victims, three primary ones, obviously impacted by the abuse, but each with a somewhat different psychological voice in response to the crimes.

Then there is the interoffice politics. As the case expands, fissures emerge between the key players, particularly with Mike who presses to do something now versus the goal of following the story as deeply as they can.

In many ways, Spotlight’s plot has a throwback feel to a movie from the 70s, a second cousin to All the President’s Men. And yet it’s a testament to the strength of the various elements that the story has connected with audiences as it has including being selected for the 2016 Best Picture award as well as Best Original Screenplay.

What are your thoughts about the story’s plot or the movie in general? See you in comments.

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