In my flurry of activity to make some blog updates before choosing my Top Ten films of the year, I recollect that I never wrote about Spotlight, which will undoubtedly make my list of favorite films.

Journalists have taken a beating in recent years, and our polarizing political times filled with commentators spouting off 24/7 is no small part of the problem. This film champions the best of them working to uncover truths and right wrongs, which is a story sorely needed to valorize the profession and bring some balance into public perception.

Spotlight follows a group of Boston Globe investigative reporters on their real-life crusade to expose the widespread problem of priests sexually abusing children and the role of the Catholic church in covering up the crimes.

The film is terrific, which is no surprise to me as a long-time fan of director and co-writer Tom McCarthy (I particularly love The Visitor and The Station Agent).

As a fun note, McCarthy played an unscrupulous journalist in Season Five of The Wire. Who can forget Scott Templeton, who fabricated more than he investigated and reported? There is some delicious irony here.

See Spotlight. You won’t regret it.