Doubt Reviews

Let me say from the start that Doubt is a good movie with strong acting and a timely story. It's also long and slow at times, slow enough that I had to stop it halfway for fear I'd fall asleep. Still, Doubt is worth seeing and I recommend it.

The year is 1964, not long after the murder of John F. Kennedy. The characters in the film feel like they're still mourning the president's sudden death but carrying on as best they can. Sister James (Amy Adams) is a nun teaching a classroom of 12-year-olds in a Catholic school. Her principal is Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), a stern disciplinarian who does...

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...

Doubt was an interesting movie to see. I knew it had been up for several Academy Awards so when the Library where I work received this movie, I made the decision to watch it. I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about and why it had received all the nominations. Siffice to say, it was a good movie, but I was not overly impressed. I like Meryl Streep and it was creepy to watch her play this nun who not many people liked. I was saddened the way that she acted toward Father Flynn, who was only trying to help this young boy through some rough times. He was not doing anything bad but as the movie...

This was a non-glamorous role for Meryl Streep as the head of a Catholic school.  She was fantastic as always.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman was also outstanding as the priest who is suspected of foul play with an altar boy.  The human dynamics in this movie were nothing short of remarkable.  I highly recommend this movie to anyone who suffered through Catholic school as a child - much food for thought.