by The Great White Gypsy

So a priest walks into a rectory…

I agree, child molestation is not the least bit funny, especially by church officials. But these days, that story ends the same way every time. The church is saturated with loose morals and questionable ethics. Which is why a film like Doubt speaks so loudly to our current culture.

Writer/Director John Patrick Shanley also penned the award-winning play, which helps to keep the tone and dialogue intact. Aside from a couple randomly skewed camera angles, the direction is fairly standard, nothing really worthy of the Academy in my humble opinion. Editing, Cinematography, Score, all middle of the road. The best part of this film is the screenplay.

The story, while uncomfortably familiar to us, is actually set in The Bronx, 1964. Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Sister James (Amy Adams) and Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) are all dedicated Catholics working at St. Nicholas’ school. When Sr. James comes to Sr. Aloysius with minor suspicions about Father Flynn and a young male student, Aloysius embarks on a lone, stubborn, dogmatic crusade to prove the priest’s wrongdoing.

The reason I say the screenplay is the best part is that it plays on people’s presumptions and biases without actually revealing the answer. According to rumors, Shanley, both in the play and the film, told only the actor playing the priest whether or not he was guilty. The rest of the cast was kept in the dark. This amazing little bit of clandestine filmmaking, in my opinion, directly related to each character’s performance. Hoffman is progressive, kind, almost fun. Adams is innocent, forgiving, and scared. Streep is uncompromising. Some of the alleged actions take place off screen, some are innocent, some are questionable. The audience ultimately decides.

When discussing this film with a friend, I found that we spent more time talking about what the film didn’t say than the obvious incidents on screen. It is complex, vague, and divisive, yet well rounded and technically simplistic. The occasional in-your-face symbolism is forgivable, and offset by some fantastic dialogue.

Strangely enough, the casting in this film feels a bit off. Viola Davis, though only on screen for about 4 minutes, gives a heartfelt performance as the child’s mother. Amy Adams is perfect as the innocent new sister; she really steals the show. However, Hoffman is really no better in this film than any other project, and even if his tempered performance was consistent with his character, his acting potential stays in the bag with the cat. Meryl Streep, though believable as a strict nun, seems to reprise her role: The Devil Wears a Prada Habit. Ridiculously dogmatic in her adherance to her beliefs on Catholic principles, she is intimidating and rabid, but rarely do we see any depth in her character.

Whether you’re comfortable with the subject matter or not, whether you appreciate the dialogue or not, this film is worthy of most of the awards it is nominated for, and, at the very least, it will spark lengthy intelligent discussions.

Final Grade: B

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