Doubt Review

Bottom-Line:  Doubt is a winner!

At the beginning of Doubt (2008) father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War, Cold Mountain, Almost Famous) delivers a sermon about feeling of doubt that seems to resonate quite profoundly with Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep - Mama Mia, The Devil Wears Prada, The Manchurian Candidate). 

The sister later wonders aloud to her follow nuns what the father meant to convey by the sermon; was he speaking in generalities or was he speaking of himself and his own doubts?  Was he speaking specifically of doubting ones faith, or was his sermon speaking more about life in general?  No matter the meaning or moral of the father's sermon, Sister Aloysius, the head nun at St. Nicolas, bade each of her fellows to keep a watchful eye on the priest.  And so it begins...doubt.

My Viewpoint

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep; it is rare these days to be privileged enough to see two masters of their craft perform together in the same venue.  What used to be common place isn't any more, so for that reason alone Doubt is well worth seeing.  Even for actors in their confederacy, parts as rich and engaging as these don't materialize too often. Given that troubling reality, Hoffman and Streep inhabit their roles to the fullest, each turning in a performance worthy of Oscar's attention.

As the name of the movie implies, Doubt showed little concern in clearing up the mystery that surrounds the Father like a recalcitrant fog.  Rather, the ending left me scratching my head as the credit rolled and most of the (substantial) audience sat in stunned silence, perhaps waiting for the next scene to start and wrap up the movie in a happiness bow.  But of course it didn't happen and that is the beauty and power of Doubt, we are left to draw our own conclusions as to whether the good father is guilty as charged or if Sister Aloysius is too bound up in her own self-righteous cocoon to see the truth.  Doubt is a winner!