Spotlight Review - 8 Reasons Why It Deserves To Be An Oscar Favourite

3. It's The Best Paced Movie Of The Year

Spotlight clocks in at 128 minutes, pretty standard for a film of this type, yet to a greater extent than any other movie this year (although technically this is a 2016 UK movie, so won't make the Best of '15 list) it flies by. One minute you're sitting down and seeing just one of many of the cover-up cases, the next the end credits are rolling and you're emotionally shaken. Through a mixture of engrossing narrative, constant pace and, most importantly, maintained relevance, McCarthy keeps you utterly engaged throughout, further testament to his quietly genius direction. Moreso than setting and topic, this is the thing that really makes this a companion to All The President's Men - it draws out ever drop of tension possible from what could have been a rather dry subject to the point where it's more thrilling than a high-octane actioner. A day after seeing Spotlight I saw The Danish Girl, which, in a the polar opposite case, caused much squirming and wrist-watching. What must remembered when talking Oscar movies is that for all their grandiose pomposity, they need to be enjoyable.