You are a young boy who comes from a poor, broken home. Of course you would be thrilled that a priest took a special interest in you. But soon, the attention becomes unwelcome. Despite going to the police, the church gives you a bit of money and promises that the accused priest will be moved. That's it, nothing else happens.
It isn't until the Boston Globe gets a new editor, a single Jewish import from Miami, Marty Baron (Liev Schrieber) who wants a special team on the paper, Spotlight, to look into some minor stories about sexual abuse from priests. This is July 2001. Cuts are being made because the internet is already taking over, and though Spotlight didn't pick this story to research, they must investigate nevertheless. The team is formidable: Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton), Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian James D'Arcy). Each are former Catholics but push their personal feelings aside and start digging up information on how long and how far-reaching the abuse went. The results are disturbing. Even the Cardinal, Law (that's his actual name portrayed in this film by Len Cariou) knew. Baron has petitioned the court to have these documents unsealed. So has a lawyer, the character Mitch Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) who represents many of the abuse victims.
Some victims are more willing to talk than others and then September 11th happens which almost derails their whole story. It is pushed to the side, as something more important has come along, probably not the first time that has been the case. And then, when they finally get back to everything, they must wait until the story is perfect though the records of the Cardinal knowing and covering up the scandal are public, Robby (Keaton) wants to wait. Shouldn't the people know right away? They have a right to know, that's why the documents were unsealed. When the story is finally published, Sacha and Matt arrive at work Sunday morning to answer calls, they are bombarded with more victims of abuse. It is devastating to see how far-reaching the abuse went, covering many countries. The archbishop of Boston would resign, only to get a promotion to Rome. Not cool, guys, not cool.
This film is incredible with real characters, though Ruffalo has a weird sympathy face, and a realistic setting. You feel like you are back in 2001, with the flip cell phones. Certainly, there should be many Oscar nominations coming to this film, with McAdams being a stand-out, having great empathy with the victims. The look on her face when a priest admits that he did molest the boys but got no pleasure from it, justifying his actions is utterly priceless. The passion each of them have for the project is intense.
The abuse effects the victims years after it is over. They drink, turn to drugs and it effects their own relationships. And it hits close to home. For Matt, a priest lives just doors away from him and his family and for Robby, one of his classmates, several years younger than him is a victim. No one is left unscathed.
The paper should have done more to uncover the story years before especially when a lawyer (Billy Crudup), paid hush money by the church, did try to go public. The church shouldn't have covered this up, they should have investigation, fixed the problem by removing the priests and punishing them as though they were the average citizen. That is why you should see this film. You need to know what happened and keep it from ever happening again. Grade: A
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
The Middle: Thanksgiving VII
Well, it's Thanksgiving time and this could be the worst one yet for the Hecks.
Frankie's (Patricia Heaton's) dentist office is getting remodel so she's out of a job for two months. Fortunately, she finds one quickly, at Heritage Village, great callback to season two, only this time, she plays the barren sister-in-law with a clubfoot though she didn't read her packet to prepare her to the role. She also has to work on Thanksgiving and the family could care less. They don't even seem to want to float it. But she gets into a fight without the main reactor (Faith Ford) because Frankie tries to cut corners, preparing mashed potatoes with an electric mixer over a smasher. However, when she hears the speech that Rachel (Ford) gives on how hard the founders of Orson had it, journeying though snow to get to their sick family. Frankie, demoted to ash scraper, is moved by that speech. She believes that the family should be grateful for what they have, only to have her car break down in the middle of the snow, forcing her to walk home.
Sue (Eden Sher) goes back to work at Spudsys, not truly for the money but to see if she can catch a glimpse of Logan (David Hull) though she is completely swamped on Black Friday Eve and works for like, twelve straight hours without a break and then finally takes one, only to have the crowd move away from Abercrombie. Turns out that Logan isn't even there, he's in Chicago celebrating the holiday with his family. She devices a plan which involves driving all the way to Chicago and figuring out where his grandmother lives. Brad (J. Brock Ciarlelli) forces her to stop living like she needs a man in her life and buck up. After working three shifts without much break, Sue finally returns home.
Axl (Charlie McDermott) goes out drinking with Sean (Beau Wirick) who is at odds with his parents, calling them by their first names and refusing to eat meat. He doesn't think he wants to be a doctor anymore. But Axl can't stand where his life is headed. Everyone is thinking about jobs or grad school whereas he isn't sure if he'll even graduate. He barely gets any playing time in football and is unsure of his relationship status. Though Sean is more or less in the boat as Axl, he doesn't defend Axl when he starts to cry. Axl is more emotional than I thought. I wish his friends were understanding of his difficult plight. He is almost grateful to return home.
Meanwhile, back at home, Mike (Neil Flynn) is perfectly content to watch football to the whole day, but the power has other plans. It goes out. Mike is upset and is forced to spend time with his youngest son, Brick (Atticus Shaffer). Brick doesn't mind having no power as he is reading and has his book light but he gives in to his father's boredom. Mike finally teaches Brick how to play poker and once they get rid of his tell, whispering when he is bluffing, Brick isn't half bad.
The show ends with the whole family playing poker and Axl believing that everything is fine. Then, in an odd epilogue of sorts, June 12th comes along, the day when the Hecks decided to celebrate Thanksgiving, Frankie refuses to stop flipping through her magazine because she's not doing that. Sue certainly looks hurt.
After two lackluster episodes, this one was without a doubt better. The Hecks always do the holidays right, realistically but often horribly. with nothing working out like you had planned. But they realize what is truly important in the end. Once again, this episode was filled with good performances, including Sher being Sue's typical over the top self and McDermott showing that Axl does have real emotions and is capable of having others show sympathy for him. And we saw some familiar faces, some more welcome than others. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Because of all the crying Axl does at the bar, he casually informs Mike that there could be a rumor going around that he and Frankie are dead and they should go with it. Mike merely shrugs it off.
-For Sue's meal during break, she dips her finger into a small container of ketchup.
-Frankie is not playing her character with a clubfoot but is perfectly fine with the barren part.
-It is weird and oddly fascinating to see what they are doing with Sean's character. He is truly a sight to behold.
-I wish we could have some closure of the status of Axl and Devin's (Gina Mantenga's) relationship.
-Rachel is working her way up in the status of the characters at Heritage Village.
-I wonder if Spudsys would get in trouble for not giving Sue a break, no wonder she almost loses it at the end.
-Axl had seventy-two seconds of playing time in his latest game.
-My favorite gag is at the stroke of midnight when Brad changes his hat to a Christmas hat.
-As much as I want Sue and Logan to get together, she does need to move on though Brad says she is just like Meg Ryan from a 90s movie.
Frankie's (Patricia Heaton's) dentist office is getting remodel so she's out of a job for two months. Fortunately, she finds one quickly, at Heritage Village, great callback to season two, only this time, she plays the barren sister-in-law with a clubfoot though she didn't read her packet to prepare her to the role. She also has to work on Thanksgiving and the family could care less. They don't even seem to want to float it. But she gets into a fight without the main reactor (Faith Ford) because Frankie tries to cut corners, preparing mashed potatoes with an electric mixer over a smasher. However, when she hears the speech that Rachel (Ford) gives on how hard the founders of Orson had it, journeying though snow to get to their sick family. Frankie, demoted to ash scraper, is moved by that speech. She believes that the family should be grateful for what they have, only to have her car break down in the middle of the snow, forcing her to walk home.
Sue (Eden Sher) goes back to work at Spudsys, not truly for the money but to see if she can catch a glimpse of Logan (David Hull) though she is completely swamped on Black Friday Eve and works for like, twelve straight hours without a break and then finally takes one, only to have the crowd move away from Abercrombie. Turns out that Logan isn't even there, he's in Chicago celebrating the holiday with his family. She devices a plan which involves driving all the way to Chicago and figuring out where his grandmother lives. Brad (J. Brock Ciarlelli) forces her to stop living like she needs a man in her life and buck up. After working three shifts without much break, Sue finally returns home.
Axl (Charlie McDermott) goes out drinking with Sean (Beau Wirick) who is at odds with his parents, calling them by their first names and refusing to eat meat. He doesn't think he wants to be a doctor anymore. But Axl can't stand where his life is headed. Everyone is thinking about jobs or grad school whereas he isn't sure if he'll even graduate. He barely gets any playing time in football and is unsure of his relationship status. Though Sean is more or less in the boat as Axl, he doesn't defend Axl when he starts to cry. Axl is more emotional than I thought. I wish his friends were understanding of his difficult plight. He is almost grateful to return home.
Meanwhile, back at home, Mike (Neil Flynn) is perfectly content to watch football to the whole day, but the power has other plans. It goes out. Mike is upset and is forced to spend time with his youngest son, Brick (Atticus Shaffer). Brick doesn't mind having no power as he is reading and has his book light but he gives in to his father's boredom. Mike finally teaches Brick how to play poker and once they get rid of his tell, whispering when he is bluffing, Brick isn't half bad.
The show ends with the whole family playing poker and Axl believing that everything is fine. Then, in an odd epilogue of sorts, June 12th comes along, the day when the Hecks decided to celebrate Thanksgiving, Frankie refuses to stop flipping through her magazine because she's not doing that. Sue certainly looks hurt.
After two lackluster episodes, this one was without a doubt better. The Hecks always do the holidays right, realistically but often horribly. with nothing working out like you had planned. But they realize what is truly important in the end. Once again, this episode was filled with good performances, including Sher being Sue's typical over the top self and McDermott showing that Axl does have real emotions and is capable of having others show sympathy for him. And we saw some familiar faces, some more welcome than others. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Because of all the crying Axl does at the bar, he casually informs Mike that there could be a rumor going around that he and Frankie are dead and they should go with it. Mike merely shrugs it off.
-For Sue's meal during break, she dips her finger into a small container of ketchup.
-Frankie is not playing her character with a clubfoot but is perfectly fine with the barren part.
-It is weird and oddly fascinating to see what they are doing with Sean's character. He is truly a sight to behold.
-I wish we could have some closure of the status of Axl and Devin's (Gina Mantenga's) relationship.
-Rachel is working her way up in the status of the characters at Heritage Village.
-I wonder if Spudsys would get in trouble for not giving Sue a break, no wonder she almost loses it at the end.
-Axl had seventy-two seconds of playing time in his latest game.
-My favorite gag is at the stroke of midnight when Brad changes his hat to a Christmas hat.
-As much as I want Sue and Logan to get together, she does need to move on though Brad says she is just like Meg Ryan from a 90s movie.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
The Middle: Homecoming II: The Tailgate
Well, homecoming is getting off to a typical horrible Heck start. Axl (Charlie McDermott) arrives home but only to throw up which could very easily ruin Mike's (Neil Flynn's) plans to win the giant spatula by winning the corn hole toss. Mike is upset that Ron Donohue (Sean O'Bryan) who has won it for the last four years.
Frankie (Patricia Heaton) innocently calls up her mother for recipe for the homecoming and ends up inviting her parents for the event. She's not pleased because even though she is so lucky to have them but she feels that they will only drag her down. And she comes so close to convincing her mother, Pat (Marsha Mason) to go to Costco instead but Sue (Eden Sher) begs her grandmother to come because it will be her last chance to be the high school mascot. So Pat goes and it is pretty awkward. She motions for Frankie to do something and Frankie tries, in vain, to ignore that but when she doesn't, Pat just has to come over and do the typical mom move, lick a smug off her face, only to find that it is just Frankie's skin. And when she serves them (Frankie and her friends) a cake, she charges them two dollars a person. Frankie has had it. Pat insists that she is on a fixed income and that cake wasn't cheap. Frankie pulls her aside and tells her that she is embarrassing her. Pat walks off in a huff.
The event comes full circle when Sue is reminiscing with some unnamed classmates that probably paid her no attention in high school. Frankie comes over to find Grandma (her mom) only to embarrass Sue. Fortunately, Sue handles it slightly better than Frankie, she ushers her friends away while Frankie feels horrible and realizes that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Meanwhile, Brick (Atticus Shaffer) almost has his moment to shine. While Axl is too sick to throw beanie bags into a hole, despite constant prodding from Mike, Brick gives it a try. So Mike picks him. Only then Axl recovers just enough to insist that he should participate. Mike has never been forced to pick between his two sons before and fortunately, he doesn't. They participate in his stead. And lose horribly. Ron gets the giant spatula again and promises meat for all, medium rare.
But Axl's sickness isn't over just yet, he has past it on to Sue. She insisted that she couldn't get sick and it happens at the most awkward moment, when she's dressed as the chicken with the giant chicken head so it looks like she's pecking at the ground. Axl cannot wait to get that on YouTube. Both Frankie and Pat come to her rescue and Frankie apologizes, Pat understands.
This was a better episode than the Halloween one, but it still wasn't especially great. Also, when did Axl and Devin (the unseen Gina Mantenga) break up? That was a plot point that should have had more time. And the ending felt very rushed though Frankie did have some good narration but that didn't save the episode. But it was nice to see Brick and Axl argue over who's life sucked more, though it should have more humanizing to see Axl tear himself down. Normally, he thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread and was on top in high school, but college has torn him down. I wonder what will happen to him in the future. Sue is her typical over enthusiastic self which is always a relief as the rest of the Heck family is depressed and she isn't, she is just the opposite. That being said, I hope next week's episode which is the Thanksgiving one is better, often that is the best episode of the season. Grade: B
Side Notes:
-Doris can't fetch anymore, her jaw is having problems.
-Sean Donohue (Beau Wirick) is going through something. He wants a veggie burger and has gown out his hair and has a beard. He no longer believes in competition. It was a interesting motif throughout the episode.
-Pat is big on these new, super strong paper towels. Frankie is so sick of it. She brought them because she knows Frankie isn't big on stocking her house with supplies. Pat is even shocked at how dirty the floor is. She shouldn't be.
-Axl rarely plays football and doesn't know what he will do with the rest of his life. Yikes.
-When Sue visits her old high school, she gets picked up in the tardy sweep.
-At the end of the episode, Frankie also gets sick and Pat does hold her hair back while she throws up and says that Frankie's dad is picking up saltines and ginger ale. They will settle up later.
-Also, Pat thinks that Frankie is spending like crazy.
-For the tailgate party, Frankie is in charge of drinks because her cooking is horrible.
-Brick is an athlete now, he totally has to protect his area.
-Axl tries to spread his germs on his parents' bed. Frankie washes the sheets and they don't have an extra pair so they put whatever they can find on the bed. Mike takes his chances with a towel that has a mystery stain as opposed to a sheet with a giant hole it in.
Frankie (Patricia Heaton) innocently calls up her mother for recipe for the homecoming and ends up inviting her parents for the event. She's not pleased because even though she is so lucky to have them but she feels that they will only drag her down. And she comes so close to convincing her mother, Pat (Marsha Mason) to go to Costco instead but Sue (Eden Sher) begs her grandmother to come because it will be her last chance to be the high school mascot. So Pat goes and it is pretty awkward. She motions for Frankie to do something and Frankie tries, in vain, to ignore that but when she doesn't, Pat just has to come over and do the typical mom move, lick a smug off her face, only to find that it is just Frankie's skin. And when she serves them (Frankie and her friends) a cake, she charges them two dollars a person. Frankie has had it. Pat insists that she is on a fixed income and that cake wasn't cheap. Frankie pulls her aside and tells her that she is embarrassing her. Pat walks off in a huff.
The event comes full circle when Sue is reminiscing with some unnamed classmates that probably paid her no attention in high school. Frankie comes over to find Grandma (her mom) only to embarrass Sue. Fortunately, Sue handles it slightly better than Frankie, she ushers her friends away while Frankie feels horrible and realizes that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Meanwhile, Brick (Atticus Shaffer) almost has his moment to shine. While Axl is too sick to throw beanie bags into a hole, despite constant prodding from Mike, Brick gives it a try. So Mike picks him. Only then Axl recovers just enough to insist that he should participate. Mike has never been forced to pick between his two sons before and fortunately, he doesn't. They participate in his stead. And lose horribly. Ron gets the giant spatula again and promises meat for all, medium rare.
But Axl's sickness isn't over just yet, he has past it on to Sue. She insisted that she couldn't get sick and it happens at the most awkward moment, when she's dressed as the chicken with the giant chicken head so it looks like she's pecking at the ground. Axl cannot wait to get that on YouTube. Both Frankie and Pat come to her rescue and Frankie apologizes, Pat understands.
This was a better episode than the Halloween one, but it still wasn't especially great. Also, when did Axl and Devin (the unseen Gina Mantenga) break up? That was a plot point that should have had more time. And the ending felt very rushed though Frankie did have some good narration but that didn't save the episode. But it was nice to see Brick and Axl argue over who's life sucked more, though it should have more humanizing to see Axl tear himself down. Normally, he thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread and was on top in high school, but college has torn him down. I wonder what will happen to him in the future. Sue is her typical over enthusiastic self which is always a relief as the rest of the Heck family is depressed and she isn't, she is just the opposite. That being said, I hope next week's episode which is the Thanksgiving one is better, often that is the best episode of the season. Grade: B
Side Notes:
-Doris can't fetch anymore, her jaw is having problems.
-Sean Donohue (Beau Wirick) is going through something. He wants a veggie burger and has gown out his hair and has a beard. He no longer believes in competition. It was a interesting motif throughout the episode.
-Pat is big on these new, super strong paper towels. Frankie is so sick of it. She brought them because she knows Frankie isn't big on stocking her house with supplies. Pat is even shocked at how dirty the floor is. She shouldn't be.
-Axl rarely plays football and doesn't know what he will do with the rest of his life. Yikes.
-When Sue visits her old high school, she gets picked up in the tardy sweep.
-At the end of the episode, Frankie also gets sick and Pat does hold her hair back while she throws up and says that Frankie's dad is picking up saltines and ginger ale. They will settle up later.
-Also, Pat thinks that Frankie is spending like crazy.
-For the tailgate party, Frankie is in charge of drinks because her cooking is horrible.
-Brick is an athlete now, he totally has to protect his area.
-Axl tries to spread his germs on his parents' bed. Frankie washes the sheets and they don't have an extra pair so they put whatever they can find on the bed. Mike takes his chances with a towel that has a mystery stain as opposed to a sheet with a giant hole it in.
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