Doubt - An Evasive Success
Meryl Streep in Shanley`s Award-Winning Play to the Big Screen
Feb 10, 2009
Writer/director John Patrick Shanley has taken this sensitive subject matter and dealt lightly. It is this sense of tiptoeing, perhaps, that makes the film so intriguing. There are many great moments in this film, some with passionate monologues from its lead characters, and all are heavily dependent on the fact that there are things which these characters are simply not allowed to say. It is a delicate tension, carrying both a sense of foreboding and a desperation to all included.
When it first hit the stage in 2005, Doubt won a Pulitzer Prize, along with a Tony. Shanley has also won an Academy Award in 1987 (Moonstruck), so he is no stranger to award ceremonies. Doubt has now received five Oscar nominations in 2009.
Recommended for the Faint of Heart
This film, while exploring an unpleasant subject, tries hard not to offend its viewers. There is never direct talk or any sort of details given about the relationship between boy and priest. Shanley is not writing about punishment of sin, or pointing fingers. Rather, he explores motivations and power structures, not seeking to harm the church but perhaps to open discussion. There is no attempt to shock here.
Streep and Seymour Hoffman Combine Powerful Performances
Streep plays Sister Beauvier, head of a small Catholic school. She is sharp-witted, observant, and terrifies the students. But more than anything else, she is controlled, and only once in the movie does she lose her cool. This is when she speaks with Hoffman’s character, Father Flynn, about his supposedly suspicious activity with a male student. Hoffman plays a thoughtful, somewhat opinionated priest, who is clearly not as impressed with tradition as the church might want him to be, and certainly not as impressed as Sister Beauvier.
Each party is unwilling to speak freely, and yet many accusations are thrown back and forth. Both performances here are incredibly nuanced, and each point scored in their combat is sorely felt. By the end of the scene, both characters have entirely lost their tempers, unveiling much about themselves.
Amy Adams Holds Up Well
Adams is set in this role entirely out of her element, or at least out of her background. She is paired opposite two giant talents in the acting world. She doesn’t flinch, and manages very well beside them.
Her character Sister James is a timid young nun, who believes in rules but also in compassion. Hers is an important character because she ends up as a deciding vote for or against Father Flynn. Though Sister Beauvier is successful in her attempt to remove him from the school, he is spared some dignity because of Sister James’ unrelenting faith in his innocence.
