Doubt - REVIEW

"Doubt" and "Frost/Nixon" both faced a big challenge this year. Both had to overcome their stage roots and reinvent themselves as competent movies, and had to structure themselves so that they did not feel limited like they were on stage. So the first question that would pop into many heads would be, "well which one does it better?" The answer?: hard to say. Frost/Nixon probably succeeds better in blending in more as a movie, but Doubt manages to be a better showcase for actors, despite its small scale (99% of the scenes take place somewhere on the campus of St. Nicholas Catholic School in the Bronx). While Frost/Nixon maintained its two key cast members (Sheen and Langella), Doubt threw out everyone (including Cherry Jones, who won a Tony for the role of Sister Aloysious) and replaced them with big names. Not having seen the stage play, I can't comment on who is better in each role, but I can say that the four principle actors are all very strong, and if the stage cast is better than them, they must have been truly phenomenal. Doubt is the type of movie that is buoyed by its writing and its actors, all of whom are in top form. Had it not been for them, the movie could have sunk into total mediocrity, due to the use of dialogue as the driving force of action. The story opens in the Bronx at (or at least around) the school, most likely just before the completion of the Vatican II Council (one excerpt of a Mass shows the priest facing away from the congregation and speaking in Latin, as opposed to English). At its core is a mostly unfounded charge of inappropriate relations between parish priest Fr. Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and the school's first black student. Bringing this charge is young nun Sister James (Amy Adams) and she takes said charge to her immediate superior, Sister Aloysious (Meryl Streep, shot so intimdatingly  as to make her appear to be hovering like a vulture in every scene). From there, the story consists of nothing but confrontation after confrontation, and each one adds another layer of fascinating ambiguity to the question of "did he or didn't he?" Perhaps what works best about the screenplay is that it never gives you the answer, and leaves it up to you (and there's plenty of evidence for both sides, along with plenty of red herrings). Adding to the mystery of it all is a little background knowledge. Any time the show is staged, the director informs the actor playing Fr. Flynn of whether or not he actually is guilty. No one else knows, not even the other cast members. Knowing this, it becomes even more interesting: what did director/writer John Patrick Shanley tell Mr. Hoffman? Hoffman, for one, had me worried initially, because I had a hard time picturing him as someone who would be able to pull of the ambiguity of the character, but he does, and does it damn well. Whether it's an expression on his, or someone else's face, he'll have you flipping between "aha! He did it!" and "aha! he's innocent!" the entire way through. Acting as a perfect sparring partner is Streep as Sister Aloysious, a woman who, despite her tough exterior, is never made out to be a one-note villain who sits in her lair and hisses. Everyone is given a well rounded portrait, sometimes directly, and other times through carefully written dialogue that answers questions, but also asks five more. Then there's Viola Davis as the Mrs. Miller (the child's mother), who only has one twelve minute scene, and uses it to prove how to make the most out of limited screen time. As her confrontation with Aloysious escalates, the scene becomes electrifying, mostly thanks to Davis' ability to hold her own against the formidable Streep. Amy Adams, though a talented actress, is probably the weakest link, though it's more of the script's fault than hers. Apparently Sister James had a small role in the play, and it was actually expanded for the screen, so there was never as much for Adams to work with, even though she does it very well. The script also succeeds in the quality of its dialogue, which can be nuanced, explosive, and even quite funny. Where the film missteps is more in its pacing. The set up leading to Sister James' charges feels slightly sluggish, even if it is necessary to set up the characters and environment. However, once the action starts going, the film increasingly picks up steam, and the wry humor of the first half gives way to increasingly explosive dialogue, which the actors never hold back. Rarely has full blown shouting been so layered. Is there another ensemble this year that can top this one for sheer dramatic force? I doubt it.

Grade: B+/A-

Nominations: Best Actress - Meryl Streep(#1 WINNER), Best Actor - Phillip Seymour Hoffman(#3), Best Supporting Actress - Viola Davis(#2), Best Adapted Screenplay(#1 WINNER)

Number of 2008 films seen: 49

Top 10 of the Year:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Dark Knight
3. Australia
4. WALL-E
5. In Bruges
6. Doubt
7. Frost/Nixon
8. Burn After Reading
9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
10. The Fall

Final poster for "Doubt"

Much better than the boring original. The facial expressions on the three leads are fantastic.

First official review of "Doubt"

Interestingly enough, the one issue they seem to have with the film....is Meryl Streep. Interesting to see how this plays out when other reviews start filtering in....

From Variety:

The considerable integrity and strength of John Patrick Shanley’s play prevail despite a questionable central performance in “Doubt.” With the writer stepping back behind the camera for the first time since his misguided “Joe Versus the Volcano” in 1990, Shanley capably retains the power of his study of unsubstantiated moral convictions gone tragically awry, and the extensive opening up of his four-character, 90-minute 2005 Pulitzer and Tony Award winner adds in social context what it loses in sharply focused intensity. Miramax has plenty here to build this intelligent, absorbing drama into a strong performer with a discerning public looking for movies that are actually about something.

Set in the socially transitional time of 1964, the probing story hinges on lurid suspicions about a compassionate, forward-thinking priest fostered by a stern, by-the-book nun at a Bronx school where, as principal, she runs a virtual reign of terror in the name of maintaining old-fashioned order and discipline.

Shanley’s play is classically constructed in the way the dialogue and character development are minutely laid out to serve the overarching purposes of the writer’s themes. “What do you do when you’re not sure?” Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) queries in his opening sermon, setting up a question that will be answered and illustrated in different ways by a select assortment of characters.

With mostly Irish and Italian congregants, St. Nicholas is full of well-groomed and mostly well-behaved kids aware that the slightest misstep will incur the wrath of Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), who patrols the premises like a commandant at a Nazi prison camp. Her eternally suspicious eyes penetrating from behind rimless glasses and her mouth always threatening a scowl of disapproval, Sister Aloysius rails against such modernities as the ballpoint pen and even finds dubious connotations in Father Flynn’s preference for sugar -- and three cubes, at that -- in his tea.

Among those in the eighth-grade class of pretty and sincere Sister James (Amy Adams) is Donald (Joseph Foster II), the school’s first black student and one of Father Flynn’s altar boys. When Sister James picks up slight indications that the priest might be taking a special interest in Donald, she unwittingly sets the machinery of his undoing in motion by mentioning her suspicions to Sister Aloysius, who quickly makes up her mind about his guilt and undertakes her vendetta with unquestioning zeal.

The drama reaches its high point when Sister Aloysius calls in Donald’s mother (Viola Davis) to inform her of what she believes is going on between her son and his would-be protector. The scene, which begins in the principal’s office but on film now continues on a walk through a dreary housing complex on a chilly day, is superbly written; the representative of religious absolutism sticks to her certainty in the face of a deeply moving confession of true-life emotional realities about the boy’s domestic situation.

The tension between unbending principle and the call for compassion and human understanding could scarcely be more pointedly evoked than it is here, and Davis’ performance is devastatingly great as a troubled mother forced to voice her own uncomfortable views about her lonely, ostracized son. The scene as a whole constitutes a 12-minute emotional demolition job.

But there is more to come, as war is declared and fought in the inevitable showdown between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn. The specific battle between individual characters is loaded with larger freight of religious, cultural and political dimensions; without putting too fine a point on it, the contest suggests the overall struggle within the Church between traditionalist and progressive factions, acknowledges the advent of social turmoil -- in the very neighborhood where the story unfolds, and in the nation at large -- and directly reflects the era in which “Doubt” was written, when the inflexible certitude of the Bush administration resulted in the Iraq War.

Hoffman’s performance is ambiguous enough to make the viewer continue to wonder about Father Flynn and, crucially, to fear Sister Aloysius might actually be right. Thesp is particularly effective in his sermons, delivering his thoughtful remarks with a clarity and intellectual pertinence that many pastors might envy. Adams does all anyone could with the role of a nice young nun who must cope with the monster she unintentionally lets out of the box.

The film’s one iffy element, oddly enough, is Streep. This master screen actor, who applies a slight New Yawk accent to her phrasings, takes the vocal low road here as opposed to the more forceful approach of Cherry Jones in her riveting Broadway turn. By ostensibly underplaying the role’s villainy, however, Streep overdoes the melodrama, thereby turning Sister Aloysius into more of a stock figure than she ultimately seemed onstage. Every little tic, gesture and facial mannerism seems maximized by the effort expended to minimalize them, to diminished returns in the cause of creating a three-dimensional character. While the dramatic scenes still register with notable force, it’s a disconcerting, unsatisfying performance from a thesp who most of the time rings true.

Time and place are well caught by top-drawer production hands, including production designer David Gropman, costume designer Ann Roth and cinematographer Roger Deakins. Howard Shore’s score provides unobtrusive strength.

Trailer for "Doubt" finally arrives!

Ummmmmm.......that was a little underwhelming. The cast looks amazing (and seriously, how refreshing is it to see a movie where a priest is a sympathetic figure for once?) but some of the dialogue just felt really awkward; It doesn't help that the editing in the trailer is really crappy and that the whole thing is too damn long. Let's hope this isn't an indication of the final product, because if it is, then everyone ought to remove this from their Best Picture predictions now.

Early review of "Doubt"

Sounds very promising. Actually...much more than promising....more like flat out amazing.

I know what people are saying about Hoffman, since he usually plays creeps, but in the film, his performance doesn't skew it either way. There are moments where you may feel he's guilty and moments when you'll feel he's being senselessly persecuted, which is as it should be. Don't worry about Streep, Adams or Davis either. They are all fabulous.

The film has the same feeling of mounting tension as the play did. I was also gripping my armrest during Viola Davis's scene, since she plays it very real and raw.

For the Hoffman worriers, again, I tell you that the character's innocence or guilt is not betrayed in any way by Hoffman's presence or performance, and there are a few new scenes and moments, including some interaction with the boy, that leave you further conflicted.

The film is opened up in the best possible sense. Nothing feels extraneous, but you see contrasting scenes of the priests and the nuns in their respective worlds, as well as scenes in the classroom with some of the other children that were referred to in the stage script, such as William London, and the girl whom Sister Aloysius wants seated away from the boys. (I'm blanking on the name).

Streep's Aloysius is ferocious. She's funny in the terror she provokes in others and in the character's dry wit, but without any camp creeping into her performance. She's mesmerizing in her stand-offs with Hoffman, and in the heat of the confrontation scene, did something incredibly surprising, giving Aloysius a moment of vulnerability that helps humanize her for the final scene. I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I think it stands with her great performances.


I should have mentioned Adams. She fares very well throughout - and looks great. As you mention, she is the one that hears both points of view from Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn and her reactions are important as a barometer for the audience. I particularly liked her courtyard scene with Father Flynn and her standoff with Aloysius where she defends the priest. She also benefits from some new material in her classroom, where she tries to adapt herself to the methods suggested by Aloysius, and a moment where she witnesses something that further clouds the issue of Flynn's innocence or guilt.

I don't think Streep's qualifications to play the role would ever be in question. Nor is a comparison between Cherry Jones and Meryl Streep's interpretations quite fair. Film, by virtue of close-ups and editing, can do things that theatre can't, and by comparison, the electricity of live theatre when it is at its best, is a sensation I do not usually experience even at the finest movies.

If I had to compare the performances, I'd say this: for me, Cherry's Aloysius seemed absolutely resolute in her conviction until the play's final scene. Streep seems to allow some consternation and vulnerability creep in starting with her scene with Viola Davis. Both Aloysius performances are equally forceful, terrifying and imposing - and funny.

As for other questions about Shanley's work as director, I don't think it is my place to "grade" his efforts (I leave that nonsense to pop culture magazines), but it is simple, unfussy, generally clean and direct, without calling attention to itself. Since Shanley grew up in the Bronx at the time Doubt is set, he also knows the neighborhood and the look of the film feels right in its production design and attention to detail.

Regarding the other characters that were in an early screenplay, apart from a few shots of William London (the one who "would set his foot on fire" for a day out of school) and a boy who is sent to see Aloysius after talking out in class, there is no material in the cut I saw examining the "mental growth" of the other boys.


The movie ends as the play did. I think the film is a much better translation than either The History Boys or Proof. The quality of all of the acting is very high and I had mentioned earlier that I think Streep's performances stands with her finest work.

Poster for "Doubt"

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