There's part of an old Irish toast that goes "....may you be half an hour in heaven before the devil knows you're dead." With the film "Doubt" that toast might be "....may you be half an hour happy in bed before you realize the film you've just seen wasn't as great as you thought."
Sometimes it's the drudgery of film criticism to not leave well enough alone. Most of us genuinely love movies so much that we mull over, chew and spit, and pick apart every film we see. It's in our nature, I guess. Coincidentally ones nature happens to figure prominently in "Doubt".
Before I start my kvetching on "Doubt" let me state up front that it will deservedly wind up on many ten best lists and most likely garner a gaggle of Oscar noms. At first glance it's an enthralling morality play with superior actors and tense dialogue and well worth your time. Unfortunately on a second viewing the seams of "Doubt" begin to show, the performances seem less heady, the profundities not so profound. It's writ large themes of rigidity of purpose versus progress, moral certitude and questions of faith and sexuality seem more like shooting fish in a barrel. Any timely paralells to our post 9-11 society become feeble and the ending feels contrived, and don't get me started on the stale symbolism of the reoccuring "wind" motif. "Doubt" wants desperately to manipulate your emotions and does so to a point.
Written for the screen and directed by John Patrick Shanley and based on his Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Doubt" is set in a Catholic school in 1964 Bronx, where a stern nun and sensitive priest clash after she accuses him of abusing a student. Perennial award bait Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the strict disciplinarian principal of the school who begins to question the relationship of priest Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) with the schools first black student. The tension increases as Sister Aloysius becomes more convinced something unseemly is happening.
Shanley whose only other directorial effort was 1990's "Joe Versus The Volcano" has had a spotty career. Mainly a screenwriter he's been responsible for everything from the superior "Moonstruck" and "Five Corners" to the epic man monkey love groaner "Congo", In "Doubt" he has managed to pull off quite the hat trick, His direction is reasonably assured and some of the dialogue is truly electric, with Father Flynn's all too brief sermons being memorably riveting.
Hoffman, as usual, gives a powerful performance as the progressive Flynn investing the character with equal parts sensitivity and authority. Streep's Sister Aloysius is a more prickly matter. There's a fine line between caricature and character and she barely manages to avoid the edge. Her character feels a bit overbaked, though Catholic school kids might beg to differ. Her hard nosed portrayal is scarily Puritanical.
However, "Doubt" is ulimately anchored by things other than the two powerhouse leads. The evocative cinematography by the venerable Roger Deakins opens up the stagebound poceedings with rich colors in interior shots and the chilly hues of winter for the outdoor scenes.
The sets and costumes are top notch also, as is the stirring score provided by Howard Shore.
The supporting players include scene stealers Amy Adams as a naive young nun who inadvertently feeds Streep's fire and soon realizes things are spinning out of control. Someone please give this remarkable actress a meaty leading role. Viola Davis as the boy's mother literally overpowers Streep in her short time on screen.
RATING 2 1/2 BANANAS
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