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Film Description
In Doubt, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Father Flynn, a charismatic priest working at a Catholic school in the Bronx in 1964, where his progressive methods are at odds with the strict customs observed by the old-fashioned and disciplinarian school principal, Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep). When Sister Aloysius becomes suspicious that Father Flynn is taking more than a healthy interest in young black student Donald Muller (Joseph Foster), she embarks on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and make Flynn pay for his immoral behaviour. Amy Adams co-stars as Sister James, the young nun who gets caught up in the battle that ensues between them.
It’s 1964. St Nicholas School in the Bronx. A young priest called Father
O’Flynn is preaching to his flock about doubt – the doubt that gripped the
nation foll... more >
It’s 1964. St Nicholas School in the Bronx. A young priest called Father
O’Flynn is preaching to his flock about doubt – the doubt that gripped the
nation following the assassination of President Kennedy the previous year.
Doubt, O’Flynn posits, can bind a community as surely as the most ardent of
faiths. Sister Aloysius, the school’s Principal, wandering the pews
striking fear into the heart of every child listens and notes a hint of
discord she doesn’t approve of. Later, over an austere dinner with her
fellow sisters, she asks them to keep an eye on Father O’Flynn. A young
teacher, Sister James, does indeed keep an eye out and spots what she feels
is an unhealthy interest upon a young boy, Donald Miller, the first black
boy in the school. The perception of an unhealthy interest is the thing
that drives Sister Aloysius to take Father O’Flynn on, even though he is
her superior in the eyes of the church.
Adapted from his own Tony Award-winning play, writer-director John Patrick
Shanley fashions the quintessential Miramax Oscar contender with Doubt, an
even-handed doubleheader between Philip Seymour Hoffman’s would-be
reforming Father O’Flynn and Meryl Streep’s avenging angel, Sister
Aloysius, replete with a subtle Brooklyn twang. The scenes that feature
Hoffman and Streep are worth the price of entry along – see Streep’s lip
curl as Hoffman takes three sugars in his tea, watch Hoffman quietly swell
with indignation under Streep’s questioning, gasp as the two of them
diplomatically tussle over a window blind – but there is gentle and nuanced
support from Amy Adams as Sister James and Viola Davis as Donald Miller’s
mother. This is a thoughtful drama, unafraid to place a certain amount of
responsibility in the hands of the viewer and confident enough to climax on
a surprisingly dark note. < less
