Spotlight · written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy · 2015

Cardinal Law charms Marty with stories of his own newspaper past and offers his help, but reacts with surprise when Marty insists the paper must stand alone.

Scene 39 of 143 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Cardinal Law
Marty

Act two

Begins 34 min into a 2:19 film

The story so farBefore scene 39

The Boston Globe's Spotlight team pries open the Catholic Church's decades-long cover-up of child abuse — one sealed record, one silenced victim at a time.

Scenes 4–10
Robby's Spotlight team operates comfortably inside its own routine, prospecting a modest police-corruption story under a departing editor's cover.
Scenes 11–14
Baron's outsider question exposes what the paper has never done: investigate whether Cardinal Law knowingly protected an abusive priest.
Scenes 15–24
The team sets aside its own project and enters unfamiliar territory: survivor networks, a hostile plaintiff's lawyer, and a legal fight to unseal church records.
Just before
Scene 36
Mike grabs his gym bag in the Spotlight office and notices Robby working at his desk on a weekend.
Scene 37
Robby tells Mike that Baron and Ben want him to drop Saviano as a dead end, but Robby decides they should bring Saviano in anyway.
Scene 38
Marty arrives at Cardinal Law's massive Lake Street residence for a personal audience with the Cardinal.
Scene 39
This scene

39INT. LAKE STREET, CARDINAL LAW’S PRIVATE STUDY - DAY

Mahogany bookshelves, leather furniture. CARDINAL LAW, large, 50s, wears a collar and sits across from Marty.

CARDINAL LAW

I used to sit in on lectures with

the Nieman fellows when I was at

Harvard.

MARTY

I, uh, read you were an editor once.

Law chuckles.

CARDINAL LAW

Yes. A very long time ago. The

Mississippi Register. Small,

diocesan newspaper, but for a 30-

year-old pastor it was a big

responsibility. Too much at times.

MARTY

How so?

CARDINAL LAW

I was close with the Evers brothers,

we took a stand on civil rights.

Our readership was not pleased.

They saw me as a meddling outsider.

MARTY

I can imagine.

CARDINAL LAW

Tough seat to sit in, especially in

a small town. I think you’ll find

Boston’s a small town too, Marty, in

many ways. But if I can be of any

help, don’t hesitate to ask. I find

that this city flourishes when its

great institutions work together.

MARTY

Uh, thank you. Personally I’m of

the opinion that for the paper to

best perform its function it needs

to, uh, stand alone.

Law reacts, surprised -- the rebuff almost feels unwarranted.

CARDINAL LAW

Of course, but my offer stands.

A KNOCK on the door.

CARDINAL LAW (CONT’D)

Come in.

A SECRETARY slips in with a WRAPPED GIFT.

CARDINAL LAW (CONT’D)

Oh. Thank you, Maureen. A little

gift, Marty. Think of it as A