Doubt

There's nothing I love more than a well written film that gives you just enough information to make your own judgement calls, then plants the seeds of doubt in your mind. Once you've made up your mind who's side you're on, you realize you never fully know the truth and you're just as lost as the characters you're watching.

Meet Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), middle age priest, mentor, head of St. Nicholas Church and School, and befriender of young Donald Miller (Joseph Foster), the lone black student in the school and social outcast. On the opposite end is Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), principal, keeper of tradition, moral fibre and general fear throughout the school. After a few suspicious events, Sister Aloysius is lead to believe that Father Flynn engaged in an "inappropriate relationship" with poor Donald, though she has no specific evidence except her convictions to back her story up. In the middle of it all is Sister James (Amy Adams), who wants to believe in a new kind of church that can extend love and acceptance, but also yearns for approval from her fellow Sister. She is the instigator of the initial suspicions and jumps from side to side throughout the events that occur, never fully sure of herself or Father Flynn.

I have not seen John Patrick Shanley's play on which this film is based so I have no basis for comparison. But if his film adaptation of Doubt is any reflection of the play, it needs to be mounted more often than not. Not only does Shanley pit you against the films two antagonists, making you wonder who's right (and who has rights, in fact), but he asks such difficult questions as "Who can anyone trust" and "How does one know when he/she is right?" without shame or fear. One moment you can't help but know that Father Flynn couldn't have possibly committed these atrocities, but with a slight look away and a moment of weakness, Hoffman makes you wonder. You begin the film cringing at the viciousness of Sister Aloysius, but by the end you question if she the one who is in the right for doing what she did.

The leading trio of Doubt is undoubtedly one of the best casting choices I've seen in awhile - two of my absolute favourite actors pitted against each other, with an amazing Amy Adams flitting between the two. This film needs to be part of an actor's curriculum. The slightest looks and gestures from both Streep and Hoffman mean something; there are no choices by these actors that haven't been made without the deepest thought and distinction. They were absolutely riveting to watch and, as far as I'm concerned, should win every award possible for their portrayals.

In the end, the brilliance of this piece is that no answers are ever given. You're meant to leave the theatre knowing about as much as Sister Aloysius as she sits with her young protege crying, "I have such doubts!" But all you can do is question and wonder.