Here are some photos of Rachel McAdams, John Slattery and Liev Schreiber at last night’s Gotham Awards. They are some of the stars of Spotlight, and Spotlight ended up taking home four big awards at the Gothams: a special jury prize, best screenplay, best ensemble and best film. Spotlight was also announced (last week) as the recipient of the Robert Altman ensemble award at the Independent Spirit Awards, just FYI.

I saw Spotlight over the weekend, and OMG, it deserves all of the awards. I’m not even going to put “SPOILERS” anywhere, because I would hope that everyone has a passing familiarity with the story: the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team did a year-long investigation into the history of Catholic Church’s pedophile priest problem in 2001 and 2002. The film stars McAdams, Slattery, Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo, Jamey Sheridan, Michael Keaton, Billy Crudup, Stanley Tucci and more. I was disconcerted by how all-white the cast was, but to be fair… it was a true story and it takes place in Boston. And to be fair, every actor was pitch perfect.

I went into the film thinking that Michael Keaton was “the star,” but that’s not the case really. The ensemble is the star. The screenplay is the star. Keaton and Ruffalo are close to being the leads of the film, but even then, I would say that they’re technically supporting actors in one of the best ensembles ever assembled. Spotlight reminded me somewhat of All the President’s Men, mostly because the film’s focus was on the mechanics of journalism, the internal struggle of working newspaper, and how editorial decisions are made in the face of an enormous scandal that has been overlooked for decades.

Everyone involved was so good, it’s difficult to even pinpoint one particular actor for being “the best.” Ruffalo had the “showy” role as the dedicated, passionate reporter and lapsed Catholic who got emotionally involved with the story. Michael Keaton’s character arc was the most thought-provoking, and I think Keaton deserves some special recognition for daring to look his age, because seriously, he looked REALLY old in so many of the close-ups. It was refreshing too – no one was Botoxed or tweaked or anything. I also loved Schreiber, CB’s boyfriend, who played the Boston outsider and new editor of the Boston Globe – he was the quiet, dedicated force pushing the Globe to do a more in-depth analysis of the Church from his first day on the job.

Anyway, I can’t recommend this film more. I’ve been on a movie-going binge lately and this was by far the best drama I’ve seen all year. GO SEE IT!

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet and Getty.