Saturday, January 3, 2009

DOUBT

“DOUBT” (Starring Meryl Streep as Sister Halitosis; Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brylcreem & Amy Adams as Sister Bertrille)

A controversial religious drama, & no, those are not the character names, I just needed to write something silly to help me focus on yet another ‘heavy’ film. Other than a few extra nuns, several kids & one child’s mother, the three stars of this film dominate the screen & they are all excellent. In fact, here’s a line I’m writing specifically to my dear sister-in-law in Hanover – Meryl Streep is OUTSTANDING in this film, 2nd best female performance I’ve seen this year, & Streep’s finest by far – she clearly outshines PSH & that isn’t easy to do – the guy was my ‘Actor of the Year for 2007’ with 3 incredible performances. & Amy Adams, though playing a spunky, yet troubled, young nun was very impressive as well. The controversy if you didn’t already know is child molesting. The question imposed here is – Did Father Flynn (Hoffman) commit the sin or not? The Mother Superior/Principal of the parish’s school, Sister Aloysius , believes he did – her suspicions are arisen by Adams’ Sister James’ accusations after she witnesses the priest behaving strangely & showing the school’s lone black child ‘special’ attention.
From there the two plot to expose the man of God as a pedophile needing to be brought to justice. Sister Aloysius isn’t one to mince words, so she sets up a meeting with Father Flynn on the pretense of ‘What songs should be sung at this years Christmas pageant?’ From there the sparks & accusations fly & the story becomes an intriguing, top notched mystery – Is the priest guilty or not? The Principal is certain that he is, but Sister James (The kids call her “Jimmy’) believes the Father’s explanation for his behavior & has doubts about his guilt.
The difference between this film & ‘7 Pounds’ is the injection of some light-hearted humor – which elevates ‘Doubt’ for me – I love movies that can make me laugh, think & keep my curiosity peaked; this film did that. The elderly nuns & the school children provide most of the chuckles, though the one big laugh comes unexpectedly from Streep. (When one of Sister James’ students is sent to her office for talking in class)
The only scene that didn’t work all that well for me was a lengthy conversation Sister Aloysius has with the mother of the boy in question (Viola Davis) - I found it to be oddly written – for some reason, it just didn’t mesh for me; I found the mother’s behavior to be... unrealistic. Now, I’m willing to set aside my feelings about this scene because it does give the story a very unique twist – so even though I didn’t ‘buy into’ it, I’m still fine with it being included. & it seemed to me that PSH got a little too loud too soon when confronting Streep’s conniving nun one on one. Was it meant to make you think he must be guilty otherwise why would he be getting so upset? Or perhaps it was supposed to make you lean the other way – He was so quick to blow up at her because he’s innocent & frustrated that she would even think such a thing? That’s why I felt this was Streep’s movie from start to finish. I am not a fan of the actress, I think she’s been guilty of over-acting on several of her so-called ‘great’ performances, but here, she is a delight - The perfect role at the perfect time in her career. I applaud you, Ms. Streep, for a job very well done. . . There, I said it – hope that makes you happy, Dr. Porter.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your generous remarks. I intend to travel for an hour to see "Doubt."

Anonymous said...

It's funny how some people percieve an acting performance compared to another person. I would rate her Doubt performance 6th in her career, with Sophies Choice being the best then Postcards From The Edge, Ironweed, Out Of Africa, Adaptation, then Doubt.
I made the assumption that Seymour Hoffman was the best of the bunch. But Terry says it's Streep that steals the show.
I felt is a good movie, not great, at least that's my opinion. It could make my top 10. I have to go over my notes for the year soon to compile my list of my top 10 and 20.
I'm also seeing predictions that Viola Davis may earn a supporting actress nomination. I thought though brief, that was a a pretty powerful performance. If she got one I'd have no problem with that, though I think it's clearly Kate Winslet's win. Davis might be the Ruby Dee of this year. Blink and you'd miss that performance too.

Anonymous said...

Hey... I didn't sign in as anonymous ? Weird. That was me Terry.

Anonymous said...

Sure dbm, just because Anonymous thinks the same way you do, you take credit for his words... shame on you! Your Top 4 Streep performances - All hack jobs to me! To tell you the truth, I can't say for certain if I ever watched any of them. Adaptation may have been my favorite prior to 'Doubt', but she WAS Sister Halitosis & I felt she was better than Philip because HE was the one who went a bit over the top, while she maintained. I never went to Catholic school (Well, duh!) but I remember having 'scary' teachers & Streep was so realistic, I was afraid to make a bathroom run while watching the film for fear that she'd catch me & make me get an excuse slip! I was trying to run my Top 10 in my mind as well & if 'Doubt' doesn't make it in, it will be #11 or #12 at the lowest.
If Viola Davis gets a supporting actress nomination this is officially the weakest year EVER for Supporting Actress roles...

Anonymous said...

I agree with the blogger on the Streep's performance. She's a lock for a Academy Award nomination. All 4 principle actors were very good.

She just may follow up this performance with another immersion kind of performance in 2009 playing Julia Child in Julia and Julia. I saw an interview on TV that the director said she sounds just like the past chef.

Anonymous said...

I just saw this today. Couldn't believe the wife passed. She said it looks boring. Not when you assemble this talent! I think it should be Oscar nominated. The performances were riveting.

And I'm ( for once ? ) with Terry on Streep as a tour deforce. One of her best. I would put her as right up there at the top this year.

The best actress is the most up in the air category it has been in a long time. That's good. Some people think Anne Hathaway, some people yell for long shot Melissa Leo and Sally Hawkins is the critics winner. Really up in the air. But for the win I'm going to say it should be between Streep and Kate Winslet. But not for Revolutionary Road, but for The Reader.

I was very surprised at how much I liked the movie.

oscartracker.blogspot.com ( some new info/content )

Anonymous said...

Thanks, as always for your comments; Just have to say that the Julia Childs movie is probably on my 'least looking forward to list' - I guess the producers are banking on the fact that 'Ratatouille' was so well received, let's do a real life cooking movie!
And I'm glad to see that Kurt is with me (for once) except that he isn't, really - I have Streep in
2nd place among the best actresses in 2009 as I think Angelina Jolie delivered an Oscar winning performance in 'Changeling'.
But I haven't seen the Melissa Leo performance yet...

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Doubt for it's Oscar nominations for all four principle actors. That is a pretty rare thing.

I feel not seeing The Reader worthy of a nomination, I would have said The Dark Knight. But since that got passed over as well, I would have put Doubt as one of the five in the best picture catagory.

Hey, John Patrick Shanley got a screenwriting nomination too, so the film was recognized pretty well. Could have been worse.