Review of Doubt (2009) by Kyle W — 19 Aug 2010

There is a scene in "Doubt" which shows two of the greatest acting forces of our time go head to head. The scene is frightening in the implications to the plot, but profound and beautiful in the way these two actors embody their characters. This may be the moment which stuck out to me, but this is a film full of such moments. "Doubt" is not a happy film to behold, but it is an enjoyable film to watch, because of the richness of the acting, and superb way in which the director John Patrick Shanley (also the writer of the original play) is so able to capture the dichotomy between the Priests and the Nuns. Here is a film where everyone gives a stunning performance, and the audience is richly rewarded for it.

"Doubt" opens with a sermon on the very title, "Doubt." Father Flynn (Hoffman) asserts that doubt can be just as binding and sustaining as faith - a profound statement, especially for a Priest in 1964. This sermon earns the suspicion of Sister Aloysius (Streep), one of the most terrifying characters I've seen in a long while. Sister Aloysius instructs her fellow nuns to keep an eye on Father Flynn, she is concerned about the safety of the children at school. Caught in the middle is poor Sister James (Amy Adams) who sees something suspicious and informs her superior but immediately regrets it.

There is one African-American child in Father Flynn's school, and Father Flynn has taken an interest, for the boys well being, he asserts that the child will fail, or perhaps even die if someone does not show him love. This is a true statement, Father Flynn conducts himself as a renaissance man, looking after the well being a student seems to him to be quire normal. This is in stark contrast to Sister Aloysius's medieval way of running the school, and she does not like it. The accusation is made, and a stand-off occurs. Sister Aloysius has certainty that Father Flynn has done something wrong, but no evidence. Father Flynn has all of the evidence in his favor, but even breath of a scandal, however unsubstantiated will destroy his career. And in the middle poor Sister James who put forth the first accusation, and now knows in her heart that Father Flynn is innocent.

In her ruthless pursuit of Father Flynn, Sister Aloysius calls the boys mother in to see her. Viola Davis gives one of the most stunning performances I have ever seen, despite only being the film for ten minutes. She is frightening, honest, and wonderful in the way she conducts herself and her character, it is a beautiful thing to behold. She plays a woman forced to be tough on the outside, and then lets us in to see what it's like on the inside kicking and screaming all the way. That she won the Academy Award actually leaves me with some hope for the Academy.

Is Father Flynn innocent? Perhaps the films greatest triumph is that we do not know. But it quickly becomes important that it does not matter. Sister Aloysius hates Father Flynn because he represents the future, he is the embodiment of progressiveness. Consider the scene where he sits at lunch with the boys and answers their questions on how to get girls to like them, in complete contrast the totalitarian rule which Sister Aloysius has set up before Flynn's arrival. The film is about a war between the old and the new, the poor little boy is just stuck in the middle. The film ends as it begins (this I do not believe ruins anything), and in this way makes a literary circle, which transforms the characters and the audience along with them.

"Doubt" is one of the great films of our time. I have been lucky lately, in that all of the films I have watched have been great ones. I was sure "Doubt" would be great, but I was completely unprepared for just how great. Acting at its finest, and storytelling that makes us think. Take a moment to consider how hard both of those things are to find.