Friday, December 12, 2008

Movie review: Doubt

By John P. Meyer

Even though Father Brendan Flynn (the character played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) argues in his leadoff sermon that the presence of doubt is endemic to the human condition, there can be little doubt that Doubt is one of the best movies of the year.

John Patrick Shanley's writing/directing effort achieves this distinction by concentrating on character interaction as opposed to any sort of frenetic on-camera action. Which makes the fact that this 104-minute drama is relentlessly gripping even more surprising.

The film's watchability quotient is due to the intelligent and craftily-exposited script (developed from Shanley's own stage play) and to the talents of a powerhouse acting duo (Mr. Hoffman and Meryl Streep) working at the top of their form. Whether or not these children of Hollywood have sugar plum visions at Christmas, a visit from the ghost of golden statuettes to come is a near certainty.

"Wooden rulers are so much more effective than plastic..."

Sister Aloysius (Ms. Streep) is the Dirty Harry of St. Nicholas Catholic School, keeping both her resident nuns and their neighborhood student charges on a short and tightly-held rein. She is the sort of nun to whom Catholic school graduates refer when they wax poetic on the subject of discipline (ref. whacks delivered with rulers). As School Principal, she thinks it's her job to ensure that kids toe the line, and whether they do it out of respect for authority (God's; hers) or fear of corporal punishment matters not to the good sister.

Enter the new parish priest, Father Flynn, whose management style (from the pulpit; as coach of the basketball team) is less authoritarian and far more accepting; he seems better equipped to chum up with students than to engender fear in them. As a result of his openness - and his charismatic preaching style - Flynn becomes an immediate hit with both students and parishoners.

"Should I bless her? Should I curse her? Which 'a 'deez?"

Not surprisingly, Flynn's willingness to see things in subtle shades of gray rather than harshly-delineated black and white incurs the wrath of the dogmatic Aloysius. When he sermonizes that "we are bound together by a common feeling of hopelessness," you just know that the holy shit is getting ready to hit the holy fan.

Which it does, when naive and sweet-natured Sister James (Amy Adams) makes note of an unusual incident involving Flynn and a young black student named Donald Miller (Joseph Foster). Is the priest having his way with the impressionable youth? Putting Sister James' report together with her own observations as to how much attention Flynn devotes to the boy in the guise of mentorship, Aloysius is convinced that there's brimstone behind this smokescreen.

In retrospect, Sister James finds herself believing Father Flynn's innocent explanation for what she witnessed. She takes to heart his powerful sermon on the pervasive evils of gossip. (Flynn's sermons tend to follow from his daily experiences; he keeps a notebook handy to jot down thoughts.) But Aloysius has locked onto the issue, and like God's own snapping turtle she refuses to release her hold - even after visiting with Donald Miller's mother (Viola Davis), who encourages the sister to let the matter drop. (Something else Mrs. Miller tells Aloysius further convinces her that the priest must be guilty.)

"I swear to God you called out I-19, which gives me the bingo."

As outside observers, we may experience distaste for the stern authoritarianism represented by Sister Aloysius and harbor a quite natural sympathy for the kind-hearted goodwill demonstrated by Father Flynn - but we can't be sure that he isn't guilty of the heinous act of which he is suspected. There are indications that cause us to scratch our figurative heads and speculate. The beauty of the script is that we simply can't know for sure one way or the other.

Ms. Streep's intensity fascinates in the manner of a highway pileup, as she sneers out from under her bonnet-like headpiece and spews dogma with a distinctly un-nun-like Bronx accent. Furthermore, her character has more facets than we originally suspect: she is fiercely loyal to an elderly Sister whose incipient blindness may threaten her continued service in the school, going so far as to conceal the condition against the dictates of her office. And even though her bark is legendary, when it comes to those under her authority (such as Sister James) she proves surprisingly open to consultation.

"Sister, how long's it been since you had a thick, steamin' bowl of Wolf Brand chili?"

Flynn's mild-mannered character, too, can exhibit bark, as he demonstrates in the film's climactic confrontation. Flynn and Sister Aloysius are alone in her office, tackling the abuse accusation head-on, and no verbal holds are being barred on either side. This is the sequence they should excerpt for the Academy Awards nomination teaser.

Related stories

• Movie review: State of Play (April 17, 2009)
• North Texas Film Critics Association names best of 2008 (Jan. 12, 2009)
• Pegasus News Movies 2008: Cream of the crop, from our heaving critical gizzards to yours (Dec. 28, 2008)
• Movie review: Gran Torino (Dec. 25, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Arts > Movies / Film > Mainstream Movies

Comments

Travis Bush Verified

I was wondering what this movie was about. Thanks John!

11 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Jason Rice Verified

Well, Trav... if you followed theater, you'd have seen a swarm of regional companies jump on the "let's barely beat the movie but draft the Hollywood promo" wagon.

Just sayin'- a well rounded cynic should have this richer perspective.

11 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )