Regarding the film Doubt, I feel like I have to give two separate reviews, one for the movie itself, and the other for the acting performances. To start, the acting performances were superior to the movie as a whole. I have not seen the stage version of Doubt, but I can see how the transition from stage to screen could have taken away from the substance of the story. Some of the angles and scenes just seemed off, and
if it wasn't for the outstanding performances, this movie could have been pretty mediocre. I think that Shanley (the director) being overlooked for an Oscar nod is fully justifiable. However, not only was Meryl fantastic (of course), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis, and Amy Adams were all great. Not only was each individual performance outstanding, the interactions between them had a lot of chemistry and depth.The movie's plot centers around the workings of a Catholic parochial school in the 1960s, post Vatican II. Hoffman is the parish's priest, and appears to be fairly progressive. Streep plays Sister Aloysius, the Mother Superior of the school, who finds Hoffman's character extremely troubling, as his progressiveness, as well as other personal habits irritate her. Thus, she asks Amy Adams to keep an eye on him. One day, the school's only black student is sent to meet with Hoffman, and when he returns, he seems out of sorts, and Adams claims to smell alcohol on his breath. She reports this to Meryl, who then believes that Hoffman has taken inappropriate liberties with the boy. After Meryl hears Adam's story, the acting that ensues is the best, as Hoffman and Streep face off in a tour de force battle, Catholic style. Though Meryl strenuously accuses Hoffman of impropriety, he claims to have done nothing wrong, and since he is a priest in the extremely patriarchal Catholic Church, he is seemingly beyond reproach, especially from a subordinate nun. No where else is this more evident than in the scene where they first meet in Meryl's office. Though it is her office, it is Hoffman who sits behind the desk, in the authoritative role. A very tense, uncomfortable scene, but it says a lot about the atmosphere of the time. Eventually, Meryl is able to force Hoffman to resign his post at the parish with a little bluff, though he never admits outright that he did anything to the boy.
Can I just say the opening scene that introduces Streep's Sister Aloysius is freaking awesome?? No one else can purvey the full sense of this bitter old nun, smacking around small children during mass, than Meryl Streep. Going to a Catholic high school myself, I can tell you, nuns like that REALLY do exist. I really don't think anyone could have pulled this role off as well as Meryl Streep.
What I liked best about this movie (besides the acting of course), was the fact that it never does reveal whether Hoffman's Father Flynn is actually guilty of what he is accused of or not. It is left up to the viewer to form their own opinion, and they are left to their own doubts. In addition, I also enjoyed the fact how my sympathies changed during the course of the movie, based on the opinions I was forming, at first sympathizing with Hoffman, but by the end of the film with Streep's character.
Doubt the film 3 1/2 Meryls:
Doubt the acting 5 Meryls:
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