Doubt

Doubt
US Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Patrick Shanley
Produced by	Scott Rudin
Written by	John Patrick Shanley
Starring	Meryl Streep Philip Seymour Hoffman Amy Adams Viola Davis
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Editing by	Dylan Tichenor
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	October 30, 2008 (AFI Fest) December 12, 2008 (limited) December 25, 2008 (wide)
Running time	104 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Gross revenue	$37,309,677[1]

Doubt is a 2008 film adaptation of the John Patrick Shanley stage play Doubt: A Parable. Written and directed by Shanley and produced by Scott Rudin, the film stars Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis, who were all nominated for Oscars at the 2009 ceremonies. It premiered on October 30, 2008 at the AFI Fest before being distributed by Miramax Films in limited release on December 12, 2008 and in a wide release on Christmas Day.

Plot

Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, New York, the film opens with Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) giving a sermon on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. The next evening, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the strict principal of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the Sisters of Charity of New York. She asks if anyone has observed unusual behavior to give Father Flynn cause for preaching about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open for any such behavior.

Sister James (Amy Adams), a young and naive teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school's only African-American student and an altar boy. One day during class, Sister James receives a call in her class asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the rectory. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of an alcoholic drink on his breath. Later, while her students are learning a dance, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald's locker. On guard for unusual behavior, Sister James reveals her suspicions to Sister Aloysius.

Under the pretext of discussing problems with the school's Christmas play, Sisters Aloysius and James confront Father Flynn with their suspicions that his relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himself but Sister Aloysius persists. The priest reveals that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine. Father Flynn explains that he had promised Donald not to tell anyone about the incident, and that he could remain an altar boy. Having now been forced to break that promise and reveal the truth, he will need to dismiss Donald as an altar boy. Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius that he is displeased in the way she handled this.

Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius' belief that he has behaved inappropriately with the boy is unshakable. Sister James later confronts Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald's locker, having not revealed this detail to Sister Aloysius. They discuss his relationship with the boy. Father Flynn reveals a reasonable explanation for the situation and Sister James' doubts are assuaged.

Sister Aloysius sends for Donald Miller's mother to reveal her suspicions. Mrs. Miller (Viola Davis) shocks Sister Aloysius by stating that she should not pursue the matter further and that he only has to last until the end of the school year before he goes on to attend high school. She also hints at Donald's homosexuality and reveals that he has a physically abusive father. She begs Sister Aloysius to drop the matter, and rationalizes Donald's relationship with Father Flynn to protect him from his father, and because his chances of going to a better high school would increase after finishing from a prestigious church school.

Despite having no evidence and no support from Donald's mother, Sister Aloysius in their final showdown demands that Father Flynn tell the truth or she will go to his superiors. Father Flynn repeats that there is no illicit relationship, but Sister Aloysius says she knows that he has a history of problems, having moved to three different parishes in five years. She tells him that she has contacted a nun at one of his prior churches (she refuses to say whom) and that this nun corroborated her suspicions. Father Flynn is furious that she has contacted a nun rather than the church's pastor; the latter being the proper church protocol. Sister Aloysius demands that he resign. Unable to stand up to her willingness to destroy his reputation, he succumbs to her demands.

Following his final sermon, the nuns sit together in the church garden. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that although Father Flynn has left, he has been promoted from assistant pastor to that of pastor at a different church and its parochial school, in effect a promotion. She goes on to reveal that she lied about speaking to a nun at Father Flynn's former church, and thus never found hard evidence against him. Repeating a line from earlier in the film that "in the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God."

Sister Aloysius concludes that one also pays a price in pursuing wrongdoing. She breaks down in tears and reveals to Sister James "I have such doubts." The viewer is left to determine on their own whether her doubt is related to Father Flynn's actions or to her belief in God Himself.

Cast

• Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius
• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan Flynn
• Amy Adams as Sister James
• Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller
• Joseph Foster as Donald Miller
• Alice Drummond as Sister Veronica

Production

Production began on December 1, 2007.^[2] The film, which centers on a Bronx Catholic school, was filmed in various areas of the Bronx, including Parkchester and the College of Mount Saint Vincent, as well as Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.^[3] The "garden" exterior scenes were shot at the historic Episcopal Church St. Luke in the Fields on Hudson Street in New York's Greenwich Village. The associated St. Luke's School was also heavily featured.

Reception

Based on 203 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 77% approval rating. The site reported in a consensus that "Doubt succeeds on the strength of its top-notch cast, who successfully guide the film through the occasional narrative lull."^[4] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a 68/100 approval rating based on 36 reviews.^[5] Critic Manohla Dargis of The New York Times concluded that "the air is thick with paranoia in 'Doubt,' but nowhere as thick, juicy, sustained or sustaining as Meryl Streep's performance."^[6]

Viola Davis' performance drew her critical raves. Salon magazine declared that Davis' character Mrs. Miller was acted with "a near-miraculous level of believability ... Davis, in her small, one-scene role, is incredibly moving - I can barely remember a Davis performance where I haven't been moved ... [she] plays her character, an anxious, hardworking woman who's just trying to hold her life and family together, by holding everything close. She's not a fountain of emotion, dispensing broad expression or movement; instead, she keeps it all inside and lets us in."^[7]

NPR called Davis' acting in the movie "the film's most wrenching performance ... the other [actors] argue strenuously and occasionally even eloquently, to ever-diminishing effect; Davis speaks plainly and quietly, and leaves [no] doubt that the moral high ground is a treacherous place to occupy in the real world."^[8]

Roger Ebert, who thought Davis' performance worthy of an Academy award, gave the film four stars, his highest rating, and praised its "exact and merciless writing, powerful performances and timeless relevance. It causes us to start thinking with the first shot," he continued, "and we never stop."^[9]

Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.^[10]

• 2nd – James Berardinelli, ReelViews^[10]
• 2nd – Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News^[10]
• 8th – Kyle Smith, New York Post^[10]
• 8th – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone^[10]
• 9th – David Edelstein, New York magazine^[10]
• 10th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter^[10]
• 10th – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian^[10]

Awards

Doubt received five Academy Awards nominations on January 22, 2009, for its four lead actors and for Shanley's script.

References

External links

• Official site
• Times online, "John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: in the church of poisoned minds"
• Doubt at the Internet Movie Database
• Doubt at Rotten Tomatoes
• "Trailers". Apple: Miramax. http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/doubt/. 
• Doubt: A film review