Doubt

Doubt-2008

"Doubt can be a bond as powerful as certainty."

For as long as people have existed, the ability to believe something so deeply has not only been such a powerful emotion, but also as equally strong as it is terrifying. The most frightful evidence of this can be seen in religion. Extremist Islamic terrorists believed that flying two planes into the Twin Towers was what their beliefs entitled them to do. Fred Phelps is certain that the "Christian" way is to picket as military funerals to make the world understand God's anger. While writer/director John Patrick Shanley's film Doubt may seem like a story about child molestation in the Catholic church, it is truly about the constant battle between doubt and certainty.

Based on Shanley's 2004 Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play of the same name, Doubt takes place in a 1964 Catholic church run by Father Brendan Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and the adjoined school led by its principal Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep). Flynn and Beauvier clearly have two different mindsets on how to run the church and school. Father Flynn believes that the church should be a friendlier and should be seen more as a part of the family. Sister Aloysius however believes that the school should be run with an iron fist, making students feel scared rather than safe and proclaiming her disdain for everything from ball-point pens to open windows. While the two clearly have conflicting viewpoints, they are able to tolerate each other and put their differences aside.

Yet Sister Aloysius tells the nuns who she lives with, The Sisters of Charity, to keep an eye out for possible wrongdoings. When the bright-eyed new history teacher, Sister James (Amy Adams), receives a call from Father Flynn calling the school's only black student, Donald Miller, to his quarters alone, and sees the young boy returned to class obviously disturbed, she brings the matter up to Sister Aloysius. This propels Sister Aloysius to confront Father Flynn of his possible abuse and wrongdoings, to which there is no doubt in her mind that she is correct in the matter and in Father Flynn's mind, he is certain that he has done nothing wrong.

Doubt is a work of impeccable acting and writing. Shanley's script deepens the world that he began with his play and each word is placed so precisely and so perfectly, every sentence seems like a new clue to the mystery being unraveled. His adaptation not only deals with some weighty issues, but also brings some very necessary laughs to lighten the material. Nevertheless, he never gives easy answers and leaves the audience to make their own opinions and find their own conclusions.

The wonderful acting by Streep and Hoffman help elevate the script in a way that only two of the greatest living actors could do. Streep could have easily been made the antagonist, but she shows that Sister Aloysius has much more going on deeper inside, that this attack is not just blind hatred, but something more, someone caring and seeking justice with a bit on underlying uncertainty. Hoffman rides his performance on the head of a needle, carefully never giving too much information, yet his demeanor and inflections sometimes tells more of the story than he is telling. Adams has a tough role, being the middle man, constantly debating between her doubts and loyalties, and in some ways, describing what the audience is feeling. But in typical Adams fashion, she pulls it off greatly. But even though these three Academy Award nominated and winning actors are as usual incredible, it is a short scene featuring Viola Davis as Donald Miller's mother, that turns this simple story about what is black and what is white into shades of gray. This emotional scene makes the already heartbreaking possibilities even harder to stand and makes for one of the most heart-wrenching scenes of 2008.

Shanley, as a writer, is magical. But as a director, he still has some kinks to work out. Most of the film is beautifully shot, with help from legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, also of this years' The Reader, Revolutionary Road and technical advisor of WALL-E. But some clumsy scenes make for unusual choices. Some slanted camera work and heavy-handed symbolism do not work here. Despite that, there are some beautiful scenes that play out wonderfully, such as a scene during one of Father Flynn's sermons that gives a gorgeous visualization as to how dangerous gossip can be. 

Doubt is about so many things, it is incredible to see them all told in a tight, well-written story such as this. Doubt is also about the constant debate over whether the Catholic church should reform, as seen also in the 60's by the Vatican II. It also questions how far someone should go to try to do what they believe to be right. Shanley has made one of the deepest and intricate stories that have come around in sometime, and with some award-worthy performances from the entire cast, there is no doubt that this is one of the best films of 2008.

Rating: A-

Photo from Sky Movies