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'Doubt' is a sure thing
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Mery Streep AP photo/ Mel Evans
One of the ways a movie can succeed is in getting you to look at all the details. It’s like wheel of fortune; sometimes you can get it without the answer being entirely spelled out. The film ‘Doubt’ from director John Patrick Shanley is an interesting, subtle picture that has you analyzing everything from facial expressions to fingernail length in your efforts to reach a conclusion.
The film stars Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius, a stiff, stern, and morally seamless nun who rules over an urban catholic elementary school with an iron rosary. Characters like this are usually shoved in to the ‘villain’ or ‘annoyance’ categories, but this time we’re allowed to like her for her matriarchal moxy. Sister Aloysius is in the process of teaching some of her tricks to the young sister James (Amy Adams once again playing naïve better than an Enron executive). One day Sister James takes notice of one of her student’s distraught behavior after he is called to the rectory by a priest named Father Flynn. Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) wears a rusty bear trap of a smile as he explains that the church needs to be friendlier to the new generation. Even his long, buffed fingernails seem suspicious. When Sister James tells Sister Aloysius what she has seen, the two attempt to determine what occurred at that meeting. What follows is a whirlwind of the titular doubt.
Mostly dialogue driven, this one isn’t about plot twists, humor, or special effects. What it manages to do well where most other dramas fail, is keep a taut running time. You never once have to add under your breath, “Okay okay come on! I didn’t ask for your life story.” The acting is stellar and the best parts come when people are sniping at each other with certainty-sharpened remarks. What could be better than Sister Aloysius staring at a confiscated box of cough drops and informing Sister James that it’s nothing but ‘candy by another name’?
For its cool head and straightforwardness, Doubt gets a 7/10.
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