Doubt

Plot synopsis:
The movie opens on a working class street in an Irish/Italian Catholic neighborhood in the Bronx, N.Y, circa 1964
The pre-title establishing shots are of a quiet church garden with statues of saints and angels, a Russian immigrant playing a zither, a boy named Jimmy (Lloyd Clay Brown) being awakened by his mother for Sunday mass and then the title, DOUBT.Jimmy races out of the house, passed the Russian man who asks him for a paper and coffee but Jimmy can't stop because he is late for church, and he's an altar boy on what looks like his first day serving mass.Jimmy makes it into the sacristy at his church and dresses into his cassock, before starting to prepare the curettes of water and wine and incense, all the things he needs to serve mass. Another altar boy, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster), arrives for mass shortly thereafter. Donald is the first black student at the school. When Donald arrives, he looks at himself in the mirror and asks Jimmy if he thinks he's fat. Jimmy doesn't think so, and asks if Donald's clothes fit okay. Jimmy could care less whether anyone is fat, but Donald is body conscious and checks himself out in the mirror, unsure of himself.Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) delivers his sermon as Donald and Jimmy serve mass. The church is packed, and we learn it's 1964 as Flynn talks about President Kennedy's assassination the year before and how that event was a tragedy everyone in the nation shares so, in its way, it brought people together because they all shared that event. The hopelessness and despair it created in everyone created a permanent bond between them and a spirit of "we're in this together" that should not be ignored.Sister James (Amy Adams), a quiet young nun, sits in the pew listening intently to the sermon. She wears the archaic nun's habit: black dress, black cape, and black bonnet. As Flynn continues his sermon, he talks about a man on a cargo ship that catches fire and sinks all the while he's looking to the starts to find a constellation to guide his way home. As he talks, the camera scrolls through the church, to the very back, where more nuns sit including one who's watching all the children in church like a hawk. Spotting her prey, this nun (face unseen), rises from her pew and walks over to smack a chattering boy (Michael Roukis, as William London), in the back of the head and wake another boy who has fallen asleep. After she frightens the sleeping boy and makes him sit up straight in church, we see this nun is Sister Aloysius Bouvier (Meryl Streep).Flynn finishes his sermon by talking about the crises of faith that sometimes enter into everyone's lives and that whenever people feel lost, they should not feel alone because even the bravest and the most faithful have doubt from time to time.After mass, Flynn is back in the sacristy as Donald changes out of his cassock and gets ready to go home. He tells Flynn when he grows up, he wants to be a priest too. Flynn takes out a small toy - a little ballerina that dances when a mirrored magnet is applied to it. Donald is a very lonely boy who doesn't seem to have a lot of friends, and it's obvious he admires Flynn a lot and looks up to him. Flynn gives him the toy, obviously feeling sorry for Donald. (Throughout the movie, it is emphasized at every opportunity that Donald is struggling partly because he is the only black student in the Irish/Italian Catholic School).The next day, it's Monday in the convent and all the nuns wake up and dress for the day, in their medieval habits. The students start to file into the building and London stops Sr. James and asks her what's going to be on the math test tomorrow, and if there will be a lot of long division. Sr. James starts to turn away from him, and he reaches out and grabs her arm. Sr. Aloysius sees this (it's against the rules to ever touch a nun, as they are brides of Christ and no man should ever touch them) from her perch on stairs high above the schoolyard and she shouts, "BOY! Come smartly now and don't let me wait". Flynn says to Sr. James, "The dragon is hungry". London goes up to see Sr. Aloysius, who takes unsmiling delight in disciplining the students she is clearly the Principal of the school.Sr. James has the 8th grade class, and subjects are taught in periods. It's now history, and Sr. James is covering the New Deal and FDR, calling President Roosevelt, President Lincoln, and President Kennedy the three greatest presidents America has ever had. They're talking about FDR's "Nothing to Fear but Fear itself" speech as Sr. Aloysius enters the classroom, patrolling the rows of desk to check for any contraband, such as hair barrettes on the girls or transistor radios on the boys. She finds one boy, Conroy, with a wire running out of his ear and asks him what that is, and Conroy, a smartass, says, "I don't know, Sister. I don't know what it is." "You come with me, BOY," is Aloysius' reply, and she takes him down to her office to confiscate the radio and make him write multiplication tables over and over again.There's a shot of choir practice for the Christmas pageant everyone is enjoying listening to the students sing, except Sr. Aloysius, who just sits there, with a rock hard stoic joyless face.But, that coldness is just a front as we see in the next scene, where the nuns are all in their convent at dinner together. Sister Veronica sits next to Aloysius. Veronica is ancient, well in her 80's, and going blind. She can't find her fork to eat, so Aloysius slyly slides it over to her reach, never letting Veronica know she helped her. Aloysius takes care of Veronica like this through the whole movie, trying to make sure none of the priests or the monsignor figures out Veronica is going blind (because then she would be taken away from the convent and forced to live elsewhere). Aloysius is established as taking care of her convent and her school, with draconian measures when necessary.Sr. James chews a bit of meat that's too fatty and tries to spit it out, but Aloysius makes her put it back in her mouth and eat it anyway, so as not to waste food. She does this with just a well-placed look in James' direction.Aloysius has a bell she rings when she wants people's attention, and she rings it and asks the nuns what they thought of Flynn's sermon on Doubt yesterday. She says something must have prompted it and is suspicious of Flynn, thinking he must have done something to cause himself to have doubt, and hence that inspired his sermon. She tells all the nuns to watch him and see what they can figure out.The next day, it's lunchtime and Aloysius talks to Sr. James about London, who faked a bloody nose so he could leave early and go smoke cigarettes on the street corner. The nuns are eating chicken chow mein, and Sr. Veronica is missing her mouth and getting food on her habit and in her sleeves. Aloysius takes water and a napkin and cleans her up, being loving and caring. She tells Sr. James not to let the children fool her and that if you pay attention, you can tell when someone is deceiving you.Aloysius tells Sr. James that there is a chain of command to follow, leading all the way up to the Pope. If Sr. James sees anything out of the ordinary, or if the children do anything bad, she needs to tell Aloysius who will take it up the chain.Aloysius inspects Sr. James' classroom, throwing her cough drops out (because they are just candy by another name), and telling her to watch certain female students because she wants them to graduate as virgins, so keep them away from the boys. She also lectures Sr. James because she finds a ballpoint pen on the floor, and children are not supposed to write with them because it is bad for their penmanship. She also tells Sr. James to never open the windows and to mount a framed picture of the Pope on the wall so when she writes on the board she can look into the glass and all the kids will think she has eyes in the back of her head, because she will be able to see everything they are doing.Flynn teaches gym class and instructs the boys in basketball. He also teaches them hygiene and tells them to always have clean nails.The priests are all shown having dinner, eating lots of red meat, laughing, telling bawdy jokes and having fun. The nuns are shown at dinner, and everything is dead silent, where they drink milk and eat with perfect posture, as Aloysius likes.Sr. James uses the Pope glass trick to catch London sneaking over to talk to a girl in class, the one Aloysius said to keep away from the boys. Sr. James busts him, and the class is stunned, thinking she really does have eyes in the back of her head.Flynn calls Donald down to the rectory to see him and he leaves the class.Everyone else goes down for music/dance class, where they learn the bossa nova. Sr. James notices Flynn putting a white tee shirt into a locker during the class. Donald has not rejoined the class yet.When they all go back upstairs to the classroom, Sr. James asks Donald if he is okay, and is clearly worried about him because something does not seem right.That evening, Aloysius is doing chores in the garden, covering the roses for winter. Sr. James tells her that Donald seemed strange after coming back from seeing Flynn. Donald has only been at school for 2 months, and Aloysius asks if the other kids are picking on him, since he is the first black student at St. Nicholas' school. Sr. James says that Flynn protects this boy and has taken an unusual interest in him.Aloysius: "So, it has happened. I asked you to come to me, but I hoped you never would."Seemingly out of the blue, Aloysius assumes Flynn is molesting Donald, though words like "molesting", "sex", or "gay" are never used in the movie. It's striking, but the characters and audience know what everyone is talking about, without the subject ever being clearly defined.As Aloysius and Sr. James talk, a handyman interrupts them so they head into the convent where the cleaning woman is bringing a cat into the kitchen to catch a mouse she saw. Aloysius tells Sr. James to tell her everything she has seen.The film cuts to Flynn, at a table with all the boys, eating cookies and drinking lime soda, talking about girls and asking them out on dates, or asking them to dance. It looks like the 8th grade class of boys. One boy asks what happens if all the girls he asks to dance turn him down. "You become a priest," Flynn tells him.Sr. James tells Aloysius everything she saw: Flynn called Donald down to the rectory in the middle of class and was there for a while. He looked frightened when she next saw him. Aloysius says that she should have seen this coming because as the first black student, Donald was isolated and easy prey for Flynn. She said that her job is to outshine the fox in cleverness. Sr. James says that it's all probably nothing, and Aloysius asks her why she looks like she's seen the Devil then.Sr. James says she thinks she smelled alcohol on Donald's breath when he got back from the rectory. Aloysius says that all the priests will side with Flynn and that the nuns will have to stop him themselves. The cleaning lady walks through with the cat, holding a dead mouse in paper towels. "It takes a cat," the cleaning woman says. "Yes it does. Yes, it does," says Aloysius.The wind has been kicking up lately, making branches fall in the garden. Wind plays a role in the film from here on out with lots of shots of leaves blowing and swirling around, symbolizing the chaos swirling around the school.Conroy has been talking in class again. He is sent to the Principal's office, where a giant sign reading QUIET greets visitors. Flynn comes over to ask why Conroy is waiting for the Principal, but Aloysius comes out and quickly sends Conroy away she wants to talk to Flynn about Donald Miller. She tells Conroy to write multiplication tables 10 times and turn it in to her tomorrow.To meet with Flynn, Aloysius requires elaborate rules of protocol. She can never be in a room alone with a man, and must leave the door slightly open too. Sr. James arrives to chaperone the meeting.Aloysius has Sr. James serve tea, and Flynn wants sugar. Aloysius makes a big deal about this, as she considers it an indulgence, and she gave that up for Lent last year and forgot about it. She has to look for the sugar in a drawer, and when Flynn wants three lumps of sugar, she ridicules his sweet tooth with the same scorn she has for ballpoint pens. She also thinks Flynn's fingernails are too long. When asked if Sr. James wants sugar she says, NEVER, because Aloysius is watching her.The ruse to get Flynn into the office to talk about Young is that Aloysius wants to talk about the Christmas pageant. Flynn wants secular songs in the pageant, like Santa Claus is coming to town or Frosty the Snowman. Aloysius thinks Frosty is a pagan song advocating magic and should be banned from the airwaves. Both Sr. James and Flynn think Aloysius is crazy. Times are changing and they need to reach out to popular things to allow the children to connect with them. Aloysius says Christmas is about Christ; so all songs should be religious.Flynn gets an idea for a sermon on intolerance listening to Aloysius and he writes it in a little book with a ballpoint pen. Flynn tells Aloysius it is a new time and that something inside people has changed. He thinks they should sing songs from the radio, take the kids out for ice cream, and also take the boys camping. Flynn says religious people need to relate to the people in the working class neighborhood they are in. Aloysius says there's no way they can do that, because religious people are different, period.Getting onto what she really wanted to talk about, Aloysius brings Donald Miller up, and says they must be very careful how he will be used: can't hide him, but can't put him right up front either because either way they would make him feel self conscious as the only black child in the school. Aloysius says they must be careful not to make him feel singled out because even Flynn himself singles Donald Young out for special treatment, like that private meeting the two had last week.Aloysius plays cat and mouse with Flynn from this point out until the end of the film.She says Donald seemed strange when he returned to class after that meeting. Flynn asks if Aloysius wanted to talk about the pageant, or about Donald Miller? He then tells Aloysius he is uncomfortable. The phone rings, but Aloysius won't answer itit just rings and rings and rings, making the room more tense. She asks Flynn what happened in the rectory, and he tells her it was a private matter. He asks Aloysius what she is accusing him of. He gets up to leave, and Aloysius says Sr. James smelled alcohol on Donald's breath. Flynn tells Aloysius to let this alone because it is not what she thinks --- Mr. McGinn (caretaker) caught Donald drinking wine in the back of the church. Flynn said he wanted to handle this quietly because if anyone else knew, he would have to make Donald leave the altar boys. Sr. James is relieved, because she says this explains everything, including why Donald was acting strangely.Aloysius says it is easier to believe Flynn because Sr. James wants to believe him. She says, "these kinds of people are clever" and she means "child molester", but never says that word. Sr. James says Aloysius just doesn't like him because he's jovial, takes sugar in his tea, likes popular music, etc. She also says that she, too, likes Frosty the Snowman. Ask she says this, the light bulb overhead blows out, and Aloysius says, "You blew out my light". She also says that in Ancient Sparta, things were decided by who could yell the loudest and asks if that's what Sr. James is trying to do here.Aloysius calls Donald's mother and asks her to come in for a meeting.That next Sunday, Flynn delivers a sermon on Gossip using a metaphor of a woman on a rooftop gutting a pillow and letting the feathers fly everywhere. He says stopping gossip is like putting all the feathers back into the pillowcase impossible to do, so don't gossip. It bears false witness against neighbors, ruins reputations, and is a sin. Sr. James looks guilty. Aloysius just stares straight ahead unfazed.The next day, in the courtyard, Sr. James and Flynn watch a crow in a tree and talk about his sermon. Sr. James asks if the sermon was directed at anyone in particular knowing it was meant for Aloysius and her. Sr. James clutches a letter from home telling her that her brother in Maryland is very sick. Flynn smokes a cigarette, enjoying another thing Aloysius does not approve of. Sr. James asks Flynn if "it is true" meaning, did Flynn molest Donald Miller. She tells him she saw Flynn put Donald's undershirt into is locker. Flynn says he just left it in the sanctuary, and that he was returning it and did not want to embarrass the boy by bringing it into the classroom, so he just put it in the locker himself.Flynn says that Donald is a troubled boy that's why he drank the wine, and that Donald needs compassion. Flynn says he cares about the students and that everyone needs compassion.The next day in school, one of the girls comes up to Flynn and tells him she likes a boy. He is clearly the faculty member the kids feel comfortable coming to for help and advice. Flynn sees Donald approaching, but this time he ignores and avoids him. Donald looks hurt. William London sees that Donald isn't being protected, so he slams all of Donald's books and papers onto the floor. He also breaks the ballerina toy Flynn gave Donald. Flynn sees this and immediately comes over to help Donald pick up his things. He hugs and comforts Donald. Sr. James watches suspiciously.In history class, Sr. James tries to get Donald to tell her what was Patrick Henry's famous remark, but he does not want to talk. Another boy answers for him and Sr. James, on edge, sends him to the Principal's office for talking when he was not supposed to.Donald's mother is meeting with Sr. Aloysius, who has been listening to the transistor radio she confiscated from a student earlier in the film. She's marveled by how small radios have gotten --- proof that her anti-tech/anti-change message doesn't always apply. She tells Mrs. Miller she likes to listen to the news all day, and has always liked the news since she became addicted while her husband was in the war, and she followed news reports all day. The husband died fighting, and so she became a nun after that, and kept up with the news after that. Mrs. Miller is surprised Sr. Aloysius was married.Mrs. Miller says she knows Donald was caught drinking wine and is happy Flynn watches out for him so other boys don't pick on him. Mrs. Miller has been concerned about Donald graduating, and only wants her son to make it through June so he can go to a good high school where he will not be picked on.Mrs. Miller is late for work, so Aloysius walks with her to her job. She comes out and tells Mrs. Miller that she is worried about Flynn making advances on her son. Mrs. Miller says there is no evidence of that and that maybe Aloysius is imagining it. She does not think Flynn gave her son altar wine and does not want any trouble. She keeps repeating that she just wants Donald to make it through June and graduate with no trouble.Aloysius tells Mrs. Miller that there are men like Flynn who chase after boys, and Mrs. Miller says that maybe there are some boys that want to be caught. Without ever coming right out and saying it, she tells Aloysius she thinks Donald is gay. She tells Aloysius that Donald's father beats him because of "his nature" and not because of things he does. His father does not want a gay son, and has trouble dealing with Donald. Mrs. Miller says the reason she put Donald in private school was that the other boys were going to kill him in public school the kids don't like Donald, his own father does not like him, and Flynn was the only person ever good to Donald. She just needs Donald to make it to June and graduate. Just until June. She tells Aloysius to stop making trouble because Donald's father would kill him if Aloysius made a big deal about this if she wants to get rid of the priest, then do it, but leave her son out of it.Walking back to church, Aloysius is caught in a big gust of wind and swept up in leaves in an approaching rainstorm just as he walks into the church to up the ante in her campaign against Flynn.Flynn comes to talk to her to tell her to stop that campaign against him. He tells Aloysius she has nothing more than unfounded suspicions, while Aloysius accuses him of seducing Donald. He asks her why she says this, and she tells him that she's looked into his past and that she "knows people" at his previous parishes. Just then, the light bulb burns out overhead. Flynn says Donald's father beats him and that he needed compassion. Aloysius says she's had her eye on him since she saw him grab William London by the wrist once in the playground and she did not like that he touched the boy.Flynn asks her if she's serious, and says she is imagining things. He takes out ballpoint pen and paper and says he is going to write down everything she says in case he needs it to have her removed from the parish later.Aloysius says she called his last parish and spoke to the nuns there and they told him all about the real reason he had to leave the parish. Flynn is angry and said Aloysius broke the chain of command, because matters need to be handled by pastors, then bishops, then all the way up to the Pope, while nuns take a vow of obedience and should not break the chain of command.Aloysius asks him again if he has seduced Donald Miller. Flynn asks her if she's ever done anything wrong, and she says yes, and then she confessed it. She also says a dog that bites is a dog that bites and needs to be dealt with so it does not bite again. She keeps asking him if he gave Donald Miller altar wine to drink. He won't answer, and she tells him that she is going to leave the office now and that if he does not confess, she will not stop pushing this until the truth comes out. Flynn stops her and says that he does not want this to get out.Aloysius says that Flynn will ask for a transfer and take a leave of absence and that no more harm will come to Donald. Flynn says he has done nothing wrong and only cares about Donald. He says he will fight Aloysius, and she says, "You will lose". "Where is your compassion? he asks. "Nowhere you can get to it".She tells Flynn she has no sympathy for him, and also that he needs to cut his nails.That next Sunday, Flynn delivers his farewell sermon, stepping down from the pulpit to shake the parishioners hands and say goodbye. He says there is a wind behind everyone pushing them through life, and that now it is taking him away and that he will miss everyone. Aloysius and Sr. James are in the pews, looking stoic. Donald Miller is sad and sheds a tear. Mrs. Miller is a mix of emotions.A few weeks later, Flynn is long gone, and Sr. James is back from visiting her brother, who has now recovered. Sr. James says that Donald's heart is broken without Flynn, and asks her if she was ever able to prove what she says Flynn did.Aloysius says she is sure she did the right thing, while Sr. James says she can't sleep anymore because of all of this.Aloysius reveals instead of being disciplined, Flynn was rewarded with a PROMOTION, in an F-up/Move-up scenario: he was promoted to pastor of a larger church with a larger school. The Monsignor protected him, and instead disciplined Aloysius for breaking the line of command and talking to nuns about Flynn instead of a pastor.Aloysius admits she lied and that she never called a nun she made that up, but the lie would not have worked if Flynn had been innocent. She was sure Flynn molested boys, so she pretended she talked to a nun about him to get a reaction out of him that would prove he was guilty: and she got the reaction she expected from him.She said his resignation from this church was his confession, but Sr. James says it is wrong to lie and that Aloysius should not have done that.Aloysius says that in the pursuit of righting a wrong, there is a price, and that lie was the price they needed to pay to protect the boys of the parish.Sr. James can't believe Aloysius lied.Suddenly, Aloysius breaks down and cries. She admits that even she has doubts, "such doubts", she says.~george-venturino~

Tags: thought-provoking, dramatic, plot twist, flashback, romantic, storytelling, queer

Review:
His progressive ways gnaw at Sister Aloysius and she is soon suspecting Father Flynn of inappropriate relationship with altar boys even though she is without concrete proof.The scenes between Streep and Hoffman are riveting from start to finish.
Viola Davis as a troubled boy's mother has one lengthy powerful and painful scene that begins to tie loose ends together but offers no easy solution.Writer director John Patrick Shanley does an admirable job in keeping the plot nebulous with ambivalent scenes and peripheral characters that purposefully enhance the suspense.
Today the Church is facing the scandals of pedophilia (and the way they are handled by the Catholic hierarchy).So, if we take the epoch of the sixties, we take the side of Father Flynn, a man open to modernity, empathizing with the youth, with their questions and their way of seeing the world, speaking the language of his epoch, a wonderful man suspected by a retrograde nun.Only the movie is made today, for today's viewers, and we are focused on today's issues.
There is a key scene in the movie, the discussion between Sister Aloysius and the boy's mother (wonderfully played by Viola Davis), leading to an unexpected outcome.And I think here is the doubt the movie is putting forward: more than the doubt of Sister James (is Father Flynn an abominable pedophile, beyond his openness?), more even than the doubt of Sister Aloysius (was she right in following a man without positive proofs?), there is the doubt of humanity.
We have only the souls of the principles as expressed in their dialog and in their faces.With the mighty acting duo of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep, and a more than able supporting cast and superb direction, "Doubt" has dramatic fireworks without cheap gimmicks.The final 30 seconds puts a fitting cap on the message.
The priest is played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and the nun investigating (Sister Aloysius, great name) the situation is played by Meryl Streep, the best living actress and the best actress of the year.
And, while I am a strongly opinionated person, I wouldn't have changed much of the film at all--except the very, very end when Meryl Streep's character, for the first and only time, shows some doubt and emotion.
Neither a look nor a glance spent unwisely."Doubt," Philip Seymour Hoffman's character says in the opening siloque, "can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty." With performances like Julia & Julie, Meryl Streep will soon be sweeping aside all other acting award records.
The plot twists provided all the thunder and lightning necessary to keep the attention of an audience left exhausted by the emotional battle between Aloysius and Flynn, whom the Sister perceives as a threat within the faculty of the school where she is the principal.Shockingly Shanley has added all the clichés, including thunder and lightning, to his film of "Doubt" that he so effectively stripped from his play.
This movie made me think a lot - the outcome of Flynn particularly had me wondering, and then going back in my mind hours after the film ended to ponder the little moments that may (or may not, though more-so leaning towards definitely) gave him away to Aloysius.
This isn't just bombast between two heavyweights like Hoffman and Streep, but a master's class in subtlety, tone, the way a face looks when it tries to look controlled.This is also for Streep one of her "BIG" performances- the kind where towards the very end, and you'll know the moment as it is in fact the last couple of lines she has, you just wish someone would knock an Oscar at her head and say 'hey, stop crying, you've earned it, again!- where what starts as a performance of amusing dimensions (we all know this teacher, whether or not you've gone to Catholic school, for me it was my own middle school principal Dr. Schwartz) transforms into something even trickier than Hoffman's performance, if that's possible: she's not some ruthless task-master or makes-your-blood-turn-cold type, but someone who wants to look out for her parish.
And, perhaps, for her own salvation deep down.I also shouldn't neglect to mention Amy Adams and especially Viola Davis; Adams has been around now for a little while, and has shown herself to be a wonderful actress, an innocent but easily troubled person of conscience who has a great scene when she gets tempered at a boy in class, but Davis, who mostly has character actor parts and TV work, steals her scene practically and goes head-to-head with Streep in one of those revelatory scenes that works on multiple levels.
Rarely would I say an actor who appears for 10 or 12 minutes should get an Oscar but she too, probably more than Streep, should sweep it up- it is that heartbreaking and soulful and all that and a bag of acting chips.But just so you don't think that Doubt is simply an actors film, the filmmaker, who's only previous directorial credit in film being Joe Vs the Volcano (and now, not too oddly enough, a Pulizter winner for this play), opens up the production to not feel simply stuffed into one or two rooms.
There's a thought-provoking message to be handed from this film, and the message is doubt is a more powerful weapon than certainty in the moral code; a message that director John Patrick Shanely incorporates well in this religiously-charged drama based on his award-winning play.
Set in 1964 in Bronx, New York, this film follows a story of Sister Aloysius Beavier (played by Meryl Streep), an iron-fisted principal of the Saint Nicholas Catholic School who has a wide eye for finding moral sin around every corner and believes in her fearful disciplinary style of wash the school free of sinful behavior.
After spending some quality time introducing the characters and getting them settled in, the film presents us with a short scene between Father Flynn and the young boy Donald Miller which soon sets off the plot in a desperate pursuit to crack the truth whether this Catholic priest is just a man trying to protect the boy from possible racial prejudice (keep in mind that this takes place during the Civil Rights era) or simply trying to help the lad fit in, or the horrifying pedophile Aloysius suspects he is.
When the naive Sister James (Amy Adams) raises suspicious against the progressive and charismatic Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to Sister Beauvier, believing that he might have made advances against the needy and only black student in the school, the prepotent nun begins a campaign to step the priest aside the parochial church, distrusting his explanations and without any evidence against him.
This feature is supported first by the magnificent performances of Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the lead roles, and Amy Adams and Viola Davis in the support roles; the quartet really deserved their nominations to the Oscar.
The theme doubt is justified by the awesome screenplay, with strong and witty lines, that gives powerful elements for the duel between the authoritarian Sister Beauvier that believes that she owns the absolute truth, and the supportive Father Flynn that wishes a progressive education and a welcoming church for his community.
Her acolyte, played by Amy Adams, rings untrue as well, the boss would have chewed her up and spat her out as a matter of course in her first week teaching.Philip Seymour Hoffman, and I'm also an admirer of his, was seriously miscast or perhaps it was that the layers of character and motivation in the play were absent here.The much touted doubt should have stayed with the audience.The last scene was appalling, right up there with the fifty worst endings of a film.And did I mention all the anachronisms?
I've come to admire a movie that can stick to the script with no frills and Doubt surprised me in that it kept my attention all the way through with nothing but excellent character acting and a mystery.Sr. Aloysius (Meryl Streep) plays a hard-tact nun with a strict obedience policy.
When she learns from Sr. James (Amy Adams) about a possible odd occurrence between the parish priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the school's first black student, Donald Miller, Sr. Aloysius embarks on a crusade to prove Father Flynn's guilt.
It's not surprise that the movie is based on a Pullitzer winning play, and most importantly, though not necessarily the best choice, it was also directed by the original writer."Doubt" has much intensity, but its uneven, there are moments that you almost suffocate because of its powerful subject matter, as lines are exchanged by the likes of some of our best actors.
Hoffman fares a little better, but he has to keep up with her, and we feel almost as if we are watching a showcase for acting, not exploring the depths and darkness of a debatable subject.There are moments when true emotions burst through, and these are mostly the responsibility of the marvelous supporting cast, as Adams and Davis show their vulnerability and sympathy to Streep's superior and implacable director.
Particularly, Streep's street scene with the child's mother will trigger hundreds of conversations as the mother pleads the case to one of the most obsessed and driven characters seen in recent movies."Doubt" is not a perfect film, but it is very good at exposing the rationale behind many of the emotional and flawed actions of humans.
Streep's and Adam's portrayals of catholic nun's feel a bit like caricatures at times but overall are sufficiently believable.The power of this film is the crevice it places the viewer in between actual proof and mere probability while never resolving all reasonable doubt.
We are forced to become the "writers" of the movie by filling in the blank ourselves as to what happened before and what will happen to the characters we saw screaming at each other.This little drama is about a nun (Meryl Streep) who seems very sure that the well-beloved priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is making sexual advances towards a child that goes to the church; the first African-American boy in the Catholic church.
When I saw John Patrick Shanley's one-act play Doubt at Playhouse in the Park about a year before this film was released, I watched Sister Aloysius, an infectiously wry, apparently cold, frigidly strict veteran nun, a woman who is startling when she raises her voice because she otherwise speaks with a dubiously low volume.
Charm that has not been lost in the story's transition between mediums is in the dialogue, where Shanley and his characters have a conscious understanding with the audience that the full extent of her suspicion, in such a setting, was only acceptable to be vocalized in so many terms.Amy Adams may have yet to maintain the caliber and intimidating capacity to be fully engulfed in the intensity of her characters as are world-class maestros Streep and Hoffman, but she is nonetheless wholly absorbing as Sister James, a very naïve but wholehearted young nun who has been a distant observer to the exchanges concerning Flynn and the student.
DOUBT succeeds on every level - from the fine transference of Patrick Shanley's play to the screen (Shanley wrote the play, the screenplay, and directs) to the atmospheric cinematography excursion through the Bronx of the mid 1960s to the detailed delineation of the characters by Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Amy Adams, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and even young Joseph Foster, to the careful editing.
The story is well known by now (the dismissal of a progressive priest by a crotchety old Catholic school principal over a false rumor and all the 'doubt ' that brings into play in every character), but multiple viewings of this film intensify the humanity of each of the characters and demonstrate just how fine a writer Shanley is.
Doubt (2008)**** (out of 4) Terrific drama/mystery set in 1964 and centers on a nun (Meryl Streep) who confronts a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) about his possible abuse of a young black boy.
Meryl Streep is a strict, righteous and determined nun; Amy Adams is innocent and believes whatever she hears; Philip Seymour Hoffman strives to withstand his innocence; while Viola Davis is a mother who wants the best for her son even if it means a surrender to the cruel reality.
Of course it wouldn't have made a red cent, so Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were cast, two brilliant actors, and although different from the stage cast, they are both equally effective.The story is set in 1964 where the principal of a school, Sister Aloysius, suspects Father Flynn of taking an inappropriate interest in a black student, Donald.
Meryl Streep pulls in one of the best performances of the year as the tough and cocky principal that is so sure that the most loved priest of her school is something horrific.Sister Aloysius, the strict principal of the attached school, discusses a sermon with her fellow nuns.
Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius' belief that he has behaved inappropriately with the boy is unshakable.The thing I love about this movie is the screenplay is it's style and human nature, this film captures the morals and ethics of our conscience, how certain we can be without having any proof.
The story of doubt is very simple, a priest (Father Flynn, Phillip Seymour Hoffman) at a 1960s American parish school is accused of molesting a pupil by the principal nun(Sister Aloysius Beauvier, Meryl Streep).
Of course, both are right yet the film still suggests that one is wrong In a way, Doubt questions the moral fabric of Christianity as a whole whilst telling a story of true uncertainty that requires the highest amount of audience participation I have ever seen in a movie.Meryl Streep pulled off yet another magnificent performance as Sister Aloysius.
Hoffman was also great to watch as Father Flynn whilst Amy Adams was surprisingly good in her role as Sister James, she could be a dark horse in the best supporting actress academy award category.Doubt is morally complex yet devilishly simple, short yet explosive, and exceptionally acted.9/10.
John Patrick Shanley adapted his own play for the screen and directed this marvelous match-of-wits between a well-liked parish priest and the principal of the adjoining Catholic school, Sister Aloysius, who prides herself on believing she's an all-knowing, all-seeing purveyor of justice.
Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and, in a smaller but still telling role, Viola Davis give tightly-controlled, absorbing performances--often times what they do not say is just as important, and can be read on their faces.
Amy Adams plays a young nun who thinks she might have seen the priest being over friendly to the young black pupil.This leads to a clash of wills between Hoffman and Streep with accusations, gossip and rumour flying around some based on flimsy evidence such as the length of Hoffman's nails or the way he was brushed off by another student.The film is stage bound and could had done more with being opened up more.
First of all I'd like to say that it's a serious and thought provoking film, where talented actors like Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman play.
Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams all do a great job in this drama film.
Meryl Streep is Sister Aloysius and Philip Seymour Hoffman is Father Ryan in this riveting drama from John Patrick Shanley, drawing from his experience at a Catholic School in the Bronx of the 1960s.
Doubt - In this fascinating character drama, Sister Alyosius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) squares off against priest Brendan Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) in her quest for the truth concerning his questionable relationship with a black boy at their parish.
As Flynn, Philip Seymour Hoffman manages to bring enough ambiguity to the priest to make the suspicions palpable, while Amy Adams plays Sister James with her natural perkiness toned down to reflect her character's questioning conscience.
How right he is.This is a knockout film, one for the ages as Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams turn in monumental performances.
However, it does not completely escape its stage origins, as the film relies perhaps a little too heavily on words, rather than action, to get its muddied points across.Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is the forbidding principal of a Catholic school, of which Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is the priest.
When the naive Sister James (Amy Adams) reluctantly comes to Sister Aloysius with concerns about Father Flynn's relationship with the only black child in the school (the film's set in 1964), the headmistress decides to get to the bottom of things - no matter the cost.Streep's role as the domineering, terrifying nun seems tailor made for another Oscar run - she's been nominated 15 times - but don't kid yourself; her towering performance will have you shaking in your boots if you ever attended Catholic school, and if you never did, like me, you'll be glad you didn't.
Thought provoking story and superb acting - both Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were outstanding as was the supporting cast of Amy Adams and Viola Davis..
I would have stayed with you longer, but that wind is taking me away" The words are by author and director John Patrick Shanley, and this film, based on his play, is an inspired work by all involved.An outgoing and likable priest, Father Brendan Flynn, is observed by Sister James (Amy Adams), a teacher at the parish school, engaging in what she thinks is inappropriate behaviour towards one of her pupils.
"Doubt" centers around Meryl Streep playing an old school nun who, with the help of a younger, sweeter nun (Amy Adams), tries to discover whether or not her questions about Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour-Hoffman) having an inappropriate relationship with a trouble boy at their Catholic grade school.