Doubt
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.98 You Save: $10.01 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.60 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Doubt
Movie Review: How do you bridge the gap between Faith and...
Summary: 5 Stars
Religious belief is founded in faith, the condition of believing in something that is unseen by the person of faith. "Doubt" as a concept is the polar opposite, the yin to the yang of faith, but both bound together at the hip like theological Siamese twins.
People of faith prize the highest kind of faith - the unshaking, unswavering, unalterable faith that absolutely believes, no matter what. I saw this kind of faith simplistically depicted in bumper stickers that proclaimed "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." But is it okay for a person of faith to have doubt?
John Patrick Shanley had already proven his abilities as a writer with, for example, his Oscar-winning script to the delightful "Moonstruck". In "Doubt" he does double-duty and directs as well.
The four principle performers all earned Oscar nominations, and this film is uniformly excellent. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Father Flynn, a compassionate Priest who opens the film with a sermon on exactly the topic of Doubt. We learn that the man allows a place for doubt within his faith. St. Nicholas is a grade school in Father Flynn's parish, and the principal there is Sister Aloysius, played by Meryl Streep, is a humorless nun who not only doesn't allow for any doubt in her beliefs or actions, but also doesn't allow for pretty much any views contrary to her extremely narrow view of the world. She despises ball-point pens, for example, because you must press harder with a ball-point pen than with fountain pens, and she has an undisguised contempt for those who use ball-point pens - such as Father Flynn. But the rich screenplay also shows a little of the humane side of Sister Aloysius as she helps and shields an elderly nun who is going blind, fearing that the poor dear will be put out to pasture if her disappearing sight is discovered. None of the characters are one dimensional.
Amy Adams is superb as Sister James, a bright young nun who teaches history and withers before the stern gaze of Sister Aloysius.
At this Brooklyn Catholic school young Donald Miller enrolls. Donald is African-American and doesn't quite fit in. The staff take particular note of young Mr. Miller - not wanting to single him out for good or bad, but also wanting to make him feel welcome as in 1964 a young black man may not be welcomed with open arms by the rest of the all-white school. Father Flynn in particular seems to encourage Donald, and in an early scene Donald confides that he aspires to become a priest as well.
Sister James sees something... or does she? She recognizes that what she has observed is circumstantial at best - Donald was called out of class to the rectory, and she is certain that she smells alcohol on his breath when he returns.
Sister James dutifully informs Sister Aloysius, and the stern headmistress is absolutely certain - with no doubt - of the worst thing this can imply about ball-point pen-using Father Flynn.
Father Flynn is confronted in a series of sensational scenes by Sister Aloysius, pleading not only his innocence, but also a "how DARE you even THINK such a thing" attitude that adds...doubt... in the eyes of the audience. But Father Flynn knows that a public accusation such as the one Sister Aloysius is certain of would ruin him. What Priest could recover from a scandal with an altar boy, even if he could be "cleared" in an investigation?
Viola Davis also earned an Oscar nomination as the boy's mother. She sees the school as a way for Donald to escape both the neighborhood and her own abusive husband. If the Priest is kind to the boy, why should she have doubt?
The dialogue is razor sharp and as good as Shanley's script is, his words are helped immensely by the delivery and the body language of the remarkable cast. The academy award for adapted screenplay went to "Slumdog Millionaire", and I thought that film was excellent (as evidenced by my 5-star review), but I find this script a cut above. Not a tawdry story about a degenerate Priest, this is instead a story about the dichotomies that exist between moral rigidity and compassion, moral certainty and doubt, with a rich understory about the gap between the haves and have-nots, exemplified by Viola Davis as the woman who is willing to accept the possibility that a priest may be taking advantage of her son, as long as it gives the boy a possible road out of the nowhere world of their neighborhood.
Movie Review: Impressive Complexity and Beauty Packed into a Cloistered Four-Character Drama.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Doubt" is an adaptation of the acclaimed theatrical play by John Patrick Stanley, set in a small Catholic school in 1964, as the nation and Church are poised for great social change. Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a friendly, easy-going man who teaches the boys basketball at the St. Nicholas School and gives the 8th graders light-hearted advice on their nascent social lives. The school's principal, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), is a humorless disciplinarian suspicious of Flynn's outgoing disposition and progressive ideas. Those suspicions infect a kindly young nun, Sister James (Amy Adams), who reports some unusual behavior of the school's first and only black student (Joseph Foster) after a private meeting with Father Flynn. That's enough to convince Sister Aloysius that Flynn is a child molester who must be driven out.
John Patrick Stanley took inspiration from the Catholic school he attended as a child in the Bronx and a nun of the Sisters of Charity who was a favorite teacher. He adapted the play for the screen himself and also directs the film. I wondered if this might result in a movie that looks like a play on film, but I was pleasantly surprised by the its beauty. Roger Deacons' cinematography makes an impression immediately, while the opening credits are still rolling. He has created many striking shots, including some unexpected canted shots that don't seem unnatural or self-conscious. "Doubt" is still a film whose action takes place in conversations between its characters; it's not visually dynamic. But it is visually captivating -much moreso than I expected from a film that is about the interactions between four people in one location.
The secret of "Doubt"'s success may be that it is perceived differently by different people. I don't think there is agreement on what it's all about. At first the audience wonders if Father Flynn is guilty of misconduct. Eventually, we don't care, because so many other interesting questions have been raised. People are not what we expected and not what they expected of each other. There is a lot going on in the minds of these characters, and that's where the story lies. The idea of "doubt" is curious, because Sister Aloysius never has proof of anything; she only has her certainty. She banishes doubt, because she is incapable of acting without certainty. Many people wouldn't sweat the doubts so much in condemning their enemy.
Is it acceptable to stray from the values that we claim to espouse in the pursuit of justice? Are we to condemn people for what they do or for what they are? "Doubt" raises a host of contemporary issues in a confined period drama. The most amazing thing it does is to introduce a third perspective, just when we're thinking that the battle is between Sister Aloysius' obsessive intolerance and Father Flynn's conspicuous kindness. The perspective is that of the boy's mother, Mrs. Miller (Viola Davis), who turns everything upside down in just one scene. I laughed out loud at Sister Aloysius' reaction: "This will not do." The actors pack so much into their performances. "Doubt" is a thought-provoking film and a bit of a chameleon.
The DVD ( Miramax 2009): There are 4 featurettes and an audio commentary. "From Stage to Screen" (19 min) interviews John Patrick Stanley about his inspiration for the play and adapting it for the screen, as well as the actors and production designer David Gropman. "The Cast of Doubt" (14 min) is an interview of the principle cast by Dave Karger of Entertainment Weekly. In "Scoring Doubt" (4 1/2 min), composer Howard Shore and Shanley talk about the music. "Sisters of Charity" (6 1/2 min) interviews 4 nuns from the Sisters of Charity order, including the woman who inspired the Sister James character, about their lifestyle then and now. The audio commentary by John Patrick Shanley talks a great deal about the time and place in which the story takes place. He also offers some information on visual decisions, sets, and filming. Subtitles are available for the film in English SDH, Spanish. Dubbing available in French.
Movie Review: Starts slow but builds to a powerful conclusion
Summary: 5 Stars
[Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.]
The doubt is on two levels. One, there is the doubt that Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) molested the boy. The deeper doubt is that if he did, did he do anything wrong? Or on an even deeper level, did the wrong that he did outweigh the good that he did? This last question is at the very heart of the relationship between priests and boys in the near contemporary American society depicted in this film.
Personally I don't believe that the ephemeral culture in which we live can answer that question. Perhaps it is true that people like Father Flynn are compelled to do good in this world for just those boys who most need them because of their "nature" (as Meryl Streep's character Sister Aloysius puts it). Science has a lot of trouble accounting for homosexuality, and understandably most scientists aren't interested in exploring why some men are sexually attracted to boys. The truth from an evolutionary point of view must be that in some sense that attraction leads to, paradoxically, a better fit for not only the boy, which is obvious in some circumstances, but also for the man. How can this be? Most theories about homosexuality invoke male bonding as the evolutionary force that makes the behavior adaptive. Homosexual males bond with other males (homosexual or not) and thereby increase their access to females. So great is the advantage that accrues to such males that even the homosexual males (who mate only to have offspring) have an adaptive advantage over outsider males.
But what is the adaptive advantage to males who are sexually attracted only to boys?
In a way this film (and the direction by John Patrick Shanley based on his play) actually addresses this question. The answer comes from the scene in which Sister Aloysius and the boy's mother (Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller) talk and walk. The mother clearly sees that whether her boy is getting molested by the priest or not is secondary to the fact that the priest cares about him more than his father. In other words (and most specifically in other circumstances) the priest would become the ally of the mother and they would bond. In a world far removed from ours, in the prehistory, they might become as one. Or in a world removed from the celibacy of the priesthood he would love the boy and the mother and she would love him and sex would happen, although perhaps not as frequently as it would if the man were heterosexual. Certainly he is a better man for the boy and for any further boys than a father who would beat his son.
Meryl Streep who has given us so many brilliant performances gives yet another one here. And Hoffman ditto. I have said it before and I'll repeat it, Meryl Streep is nearly flawless in everything she does. Philip Seymour Hoffman ditto. To see two of the greatest actors of our time in the same film is quite a treat. To give them such indelible characters to work with and such a compelling story to act out is really wonderful. And I must say that Amy Adams who played Sister James was also excellent and was not noticeably overshadowed by Streep and Hoffman. Viola Davis who played the one scene as the boy's mother was also excellent.
The movie starts slowly as in a play, which it is. This is allowable since the play-going audience has an investment and won't get up even if the first act goes slowly. After a few minutes the story picks up and gathers power until, with a not entirely discernable suddenness, we are enthralled. In the end we realize how quickly the story was actually told.
Do not give up on this after the first ten or fifteen minutes. It is a story about an issue for our times not to be missed, told with dignity and compassion for all concerned, and with a deep appreciation for the subtleties and paradoxes of human nature and the complexities of our world.
Movie Review: Tough to Watch but Worth It
Summary: 5 Stars
If you ever had any doubts about whether to see this movie or not, I urge you to set them aside and rent it. It isn't an easy movie to watch, but the performances are brilliant in every respect and the screenplay is possibly one of the best constructed I have seen in a very long time, perhaps because it is based on Shanley's play of the same name which enjoyed a long theatrical run.
Set in 1964 in the Bronx, New York, the movie centers on Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the tough as nails principal of St. Nicholas school and her suspicions that the charismatic new priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), has taken too personal an interest in a young African American boy under his tutelage. Though it is never spoken aloud, Beauvier is convinced that Flynn is sexually abusing the boy. Thus the conflict begins as Beauvier searches for proof to confirm what she absolutely knows in her heart to be true and comes head to head with Flynn.
Streep is brilliant as the old battle axe of a nun who is desperately trying to do the right thing. Never once does she falter. Never once does she doubt what Flynn is doing to the boy. Or does she? Streep plays this woman on many levels: the terror that she is to her students, a woman who enjoys her position of power but tries to be even handed in the meting out of discipline. She is also a woman wholly devoted to the school and church, seeing that their solemn duty is to teach and guide these children, to protect them. It is a multifaceted performance, resonant for anyone who had a scary nun as their principal during childhood.
Hoffman as Flynn gets every beat right. He oozes charisma as the priest trying to "modernize" the church by being more a friend to the children than a mentor or disciplinarian. He is gregarious and approachable and charming, but when Streep turns her sights on him, one sees the danger and vindictiveness and manipulation that lies beneath the facade he presents to the world. You see the darkness inside him that makes you believe he was doing exactly what he is suspected of doing.
Shanley also gets the entire abuse dynamic exactly right. Like many priestly perpetrators, Flynn drifts toward the student who needs a friend the most...the outsider, the odd duck in the school: the sole African American boy amongst a sea of pasty white faces. Shanley shows us Flynn "grooming" the boy, drawing him in. Shanley plants the seeds that Flynn very well could be sexually molesting the boy. The other aspect that is completely spot on how these perpetrators justify their "closeness" with their kids as trying to modernize the church, trying to humanize it and become more friend than anything else. The result is a performance by Hoffman that is charming in every way and intensely creepy and dirty.
Viola Davis as the young boy's mother turns in an Oscar worthy performance as well as a woman who just doesn't want to know or is willing to look the other way with respect to what may be happening to her little boy. Believe it or not, back in 1964 (and in some respects, still today) this was a very, very common reaction. Close your eyes and it never happened. Brilliant performance and completely realistic.
The sole clink in this otherwise fine film is Amy Adams as Sister James, the newest nun whose naivete allows her first to suspect Flynn and then turn away from those foul thoughts when he offers the flimsiest of excuses. The role really serves very little purpose in the film as portrayed by Adam, whose performance is whiny and one note. I found her annoying from the start and I longed for her scenes to be over quickly.
As to whether Flynn did molest the boy or not...well, you'd have to see the movie. One moment you'll think yes, and then next you'll think no. That's the nature of Doubt and the question which is placed before every survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest...prove it.
Highly, highly recommended.
Movie Review: taut drama with lots of suspense--and the performances couldn't be better
Summary: 5 Stars
Doubt deserved more awards and nominations that it received. I was sitting on the edge of my seat the entire way through. This taut drama couldn't have been edited any better--there's nothing much to cut here! The plot moves along at a very good pace and the acting is very convincing; the brilliant cast turns in tremendous performances that would make most "celebrities" green with envy. The cinematography worked well, especially in the scenes in Sister Aloysius' office; and the choreography shines all the way through the film.
When the action starts, we quickly meet Donald Miller (Joseph Foster II), the first and only African-American student in The Saint Nicholas Catholic School in late 1964. Donald doesn't fit in; the rest of the students are from Italian and Irish families and he does get harassed by a fellow student soon after he enters the school. Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) takes a liking to the young boy and professes that he wants to help Donald because Donald comes from a troubled home. Father Flynn thinks Donald needs extra attention to be sure Donald succeeds in his new school. Trouble is, however, that one day Sister James (Amy Adams) witnesses some odd behavior: Father Flynn returns Donald's undershirt to his locker instead of just giving it directly to Donald; and after a private talk with Father Flynn Donald returns to class--with alcohol on his breath.
Sister Aloysius already dislikes Father Flynn intensely; his progressive attitudes represent all that is changing in the outside world while Sister Aloysius is desperate to preserve the old ways of life. Sister Aloysius also dislikes that Flynn takes sugar in his tea, wears his fingernails a bit long--and now he wants a secular song added to the school's annual Christmas show. But once Sister Aloysius finds out that Donald may have been approached by Father Flynn in an inappropriate way, she just might have all that she needs to drive him out.
And what a power struggle it becomes. Sister Aloysius gets nothing but denial from Father Flynn; he adds that Mr. McGuinn (Jack O'Connell) caught Donald drinking alter wine and that Father Flynn privately forgave him so that Donald could remain an alter boy. Does McGuinn back this up? And when Sister Aloysius tries to talk to Donald's mother (Viola Davis) about the potential problem, she gets quite a different reaction than she expected. What an explosive scene!
I can't say enough about these incredible, unforgettable performances. These actors really and truly become the characters that they play in this film; everything is THAT convincing. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Viola Davis worked magic to make these characters come to life. The final confrontation between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn couldn't have been performed any better. In addition, the theme of light is very noticeable; Sister Aloysius opens the shutters to put Father Flynn in a police-like interrogation spotlight when she initially questions him with Sister James at her side; and it's interesting to note that Sister James, who comes to believe that Father Flynn is innocent, "causes" a light bulb to go out during a conversation she has with Sister Aloysius. The wind also is used to highlight the tensions between all these people.
The DVD comes with a number of very good extras. We get a featurette on the Sisters Of Charity; and there's a commentary with writer/director John Patrick Stanley. I also liked the bonus feature entitled Doubt: From Stage To Screen. There is more, too.
Doubt is not a family movie; it's a dark, pensive film that packs a punch. It also makes a strong statement about the difficulty of interpreting behavior that is ambiguous to say the least. I highly recommend this film for people who like dramas that are chock full of tension and suspense.