I know that, for most of you, the movie Doubt is somewhere near the bottom of your list. Because, understandably, most of us in the age of Saw V can't imagine how a bunch of nuns and priests could be interesting. But I have just seen the movie, and I can tell you that not only is it interesting; it will engage your attention at every moment, it will speak to everyone, and it is downright suspenseful!
My attention never wandered, not even for a second. The movie is tight. There's not a wasted word, scene, or even gesture.
Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius. Even in 1964, she's the old school's "Old School" - the fire and brimstone principal eliciting terror in the students and teachers alike. But she proves a keen observer of people, and when Sister James, played by amy Adams, approaches her timidly with her suspicion of an inappropriate relationship between a priest and the school's first black student, Sister Aloysius responds with "So, it's happened."
From there the movie surges forward, balancing on the crest of the controversy, and falling on neither side of the truth. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the accused Father Flynn, and he's perfect. He is eloquent, likeable, sensible, but also loves the power he has over his congregation, and over the nuns. He's maybe a little creepy - or maybe not. Streep gives Sister Aloysius the same kind of contradictory character. She is strict, scary, and unlikeable, but will defend the welfare of her female teachers and especially the children to the death, even, she says, to her own damnation. At times we want to scream at her, we want to hate her, and then...we want to cheer her on. She's maybe right. And maybe not.
No matter where you stand in your own opinion of the truth, your mind is going to be working at it non-stop. In one of my favorite scenes, Sister Aloysius talks to the mother of the boy in question. As the boy's circumstances are revealed, piece by devastating piece, I changed my mind over and over again about what might be best for him. As my mind revolved around each new idea, so Sister Aloysius moves about the boy's mother, and the wind twists them up together. It is pivotal. They circle and dance around each other as their conversation dances around the truth, sometimes backing off, sometimes embracing it. At the end of the scene Sister Aloysius is left alone in the wind, with everything she thought she knew about family love and motherhood unravelling and scattering with the leaves.
This cast is amazing. It was a privilege to see them all together in this powerful piece. I highly recommend it, especially if you doubt you will like it!
Doubt is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley. It is a Miramax production directed by John Patrick Shanley starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.
My attention never wandered, not even for a second. The movie is tight. There's not a wasted word, scene, or even gesture.
Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius. Even in 1964, she's the old school's "Old School" - the fire and brimstone principal eliciting terror in the students and teachers alike. But she proves a keen observer of people, and when Sister James, played by amy Adams, approaches her timidly with her suspicion of an inappropriate relationship between a priest and the school's first black student, Sister Aloysius responds with "So, it's happened."
From there the movie surges forward, balancing on the crest of the controversy, and falling on neither side of the truth. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the accused Father Flynn, and he's perfect. He is eloquent, likeable, sensible, but also loves the power he has over his congregation, and over the nuns. He's maybe a little creepy - or maybe not. Streep gives Sister Aloysius the same kind of contradictory character. She is strict, scary, and unlikeable, but will defend the welfare of her female teachers and especially the children to the death, even, she says, to her own damnation. At times we want to scream at her, we want to hate her, and then...we want to cheer her on. She's maybe right. And maybe not.
No matter where you stand in your own opinion of the truth, your mind is going to be working at it non-stop. In one of my favorite scenes, Sister Aloysius talks to the mother of the boy in question. As the boy's circumstances are revealed, piece by devastating piece, I changed my mind over and over again about what might be best for him. As my mind revolved around each new idea, so Sister Aloysius moves about the boy's mother, and the wind twists them up together. It is pivotal. They circle and dance around each other as their conversation dances around the truth, sometimes backing off, sometimes embracing it. At the end of the scene Sister Aloysius is left alone in the wind, with everything she thought she knew about family love and motherhood unravelling and scattering with the leaves.
This cast is amazing. It was a privilege to see them all together in this powerful piece. I highly recommend it, especially if you doubt you will like it!
Doubt is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley. It is a Miramax production directed by John Patrick Shanley starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.
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