Doubt - Review

In a nutshell...
Feels like a late review this one, having been out across the Atlantic since December, and already got plenty of praise from the big award ceremonies, finally Doubt comes to U.K cinemas for the first time. Adapted for the big screen from the stage play of the same name, by its creator John Patrick Shanley (this being his 9th film), he has assembled 3 of the best actors working in the industry at the minute, the legendary Meryl Streep as well as two of my personal favourites the consistently brilliant Phillip Seymour Hoffman and the beautiful Amy Adams. The film opens to beautifully bleak surroundings of early 1960s New York where Hoffman's character Father Brendan Flynn is giving a sermon on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force, which subsequently (and as the title of the movie suggests) becomes the underlying theme running throughout the film. This scene in question also introduces Streep's character, the strict, menacing, practical thinking principal of the school, Sister Aloysius, whose introduction is one of many, well captured, segments of the movie.

"Look you asked for my opinion and I gave you it. All I'm saying is that hat isn't a good look for you, no need to get upset..."

Father Flynn is, as you would expect, the hip and happenin' priest who wants to get along with everyone, and doesn't like to alienate any of this flock under any circumstances, even taking part in engaging activities, such as basketball practice with the boys, in true Hoffman fashion he plays this angle with honesty and warmth (in a way kind of like his role in The Big Lebowski) that you initially think this bloke ain't so bad after all. Of course if that were the case we wouldn't have a story. As the film develops questions or (dare I say) doubts are raised by the young, slightly naive, somewhat lacking in confidence, Sister James (Amy Adams) upon the nature of Father Flynn's behaviour towards seemingly the only black child studying in the school, which leads Sister Aloysius on a determined quest for the truth, channelling her Miss Marple groove in the process. This leads to various key encounters between Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius regarding his motives, of course getting them both nowhere, in turn raising more questions instead of answering them. Hell-bent (an appropriate term once you see the movie) on knowing the truth of the priest's relationship with the boy, she interrogates the mother of young Donald (played by Viola Davis) resulting in the biggest revelation of the film, unfolding a chain of events leading to the film's climax.

Visually this film was perfect for me, giving an almost Grant Wood-esque feel. Bleak and run down, capturing the mood of the time perfectly, similar to Frost/Nixon, except on a much more intimate level. Streep plays her character like the Mary Poppins from hell, or what you would expect if you ever met Darth Vader's mum intially, though throughout the film you start to see the cracks appear showing that she isn't completely incorruptible and is human after all. Seemingly Hoffman plays his character in the same way as Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius act as a counter balance to each other, both have their own unique takings on how religion should be expressed and practised that maybe if they had a better understanding could have built something very interesting within their community. One of the brilliant things about this film was that it always kept you guessing, even right up to the final scene, you obviously were rooting for Streep to be right because if Flynn's questionable nature was true it was inexcusable, however was Streep's blind faith so clouded that she was unable to see beyond what the images created in her mind? Priest + Altar Boy + Church = well... can't really blame her for having warped views on that one... Overall a captivating mystery which succeeded in keeping the audience on their toes from beginning to end which however was not without flaws. Doubt unfortunately felt as though it lacked direction at times, and felt a little clunky in its execution of its scenes, maybe that's partly down to adapting from the stage to screen or maybe its from the slightly oddly Dutch film angles it persisted on using. However technical difficulties aside, the actors performed amazingly well, and Viola Davis (for all one scene she was in) was unbelievably moving and did astonishing work to captured my sympathy, as an anxious, hard-working woman who's just trying to hold her life and family together, in those very brief few minutes of screen time she had (not sure if that totally warranted a Best Supporting Actress nomination but hey...). To conclude Doubt is a very enjoyable film, which may suffer slightly on execution at times but is beautifully acted, filmed and portrayed which makes us question our convictions and beliefs to the brink of madness and with all its ambiguous tones to its closing scenes will leave its audience questioning what exactly did happen with Father Flynn and that boy?

Stand Out Scene...
The encounter between Mrs. Miller and Sister Aloysius. If anything was revealed in this film (and there was a hellva lot left to the imagination) there sure was here...

Stand Out Quote...
"Sister, I don't know if you and me are on the same side. I'll be standing with my son and those who are good with my son. It'd be nice to see you there." Mrs Miller (watch the scene, morally chilling...)

See this if you liked...
Actually can't think of a similar film that I've seen that I could recommend. Just go see it!!

Doubt is in cinemas from Friday 27th February.