Doubt (2008)

Directed by: John Patrick Shanley
Starring: Meryl Streep

**

The one thing that Doubt really has going for it is that "Doubt" which it instills in its audience. Its not just a doubt as to whether Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) engaged in an inappropriate relationship with the lone black student at the school but a doubt about everything and everyone involved. While this approach really gave merit to the title, it left me with doubts as to whether it was a very good movie.

My expectations for this film were that the performances and the story would be great. I was perhaps naive to think that the combination of the two is all it takes for the movie as a whole to work. The performances were great, so much to the point where its difficult to suggest one was better than another. The story too was very good. Its a mystery with no proof while at the same time, its a character piece about three seperate members of the school/church, all with different agendas and opinions on how children should be taught.

The tenured Sister Aloysius is set in her ways so much so that the young Sister James (Amy Adams) and Father Flynn's more friendly approach to education and discipline is not only frowned upon but not tolerated. Sister Aloysisus misinterprets Father Flynn's friendliness for something much more severe based only on Sister James' somewhat half-hearted suggestion. Perhaps, however, it was not at all a misinterpretation and so goes the story of doubt from every direction. This is what makes the film work.

What doesn't work is the doubt we have in the characters themselves, rather than their actions and this is perphaps the much more difficult aspect of a film to deal with. Its basic storytelling to create doubt as to whether someone is guilty or if someone's actions are based on sincere suspicions. Its much less basic and requires an important subtlety to pull off the doubt in the characters. The first thing you need is top level talent in the performances and that was no problem. Hoffman, Adams and Streep looked, felt and performed the parts perfectly and convincingly. However, the lone scene where Father Flynn appears likable is past the midway point, long after we've seen and heard too much to even allow that to make a difference. Sister James' doesn't seem to agree at all with the way Sister Aloysius runs her school but at the same time goes to her with a suspiscion that is based on practically nothing all while knowing full well what she plans to do. Lastly, Aloysius, for so much of the film seems like a bitch with an alterior motive but when we discover that perhaps she is right, that motive still seems to persist, even if it shouldn't. In short, I felt like the character development was either lacking or overdone. Either way, it hurt the film.

Another aspect of the film that bothered me is something I rarely touch on. The music in a film that has such a simple story and setting was big and voictrous... and distracting at points. There is nothing big about this movie outside of the performances and perhaps the accusations. The score suggests something else. Perhaps its saying that something big is coming and I can perhaps understand that idea, however, it worked more as a distraction than a foreshadowing tool .

Knowing that Doubt was originally written for the stage certainly didn't help as at times it was easy to recognize that Shanley was working on a much larger scale than he was used to. Little things such as child performances seemed to have just been skipped over. Granted, they are child performances but every line for the children seemed like it was the first take. Its interesting... Doubt is a small, simple story that without a doubt worked on the stage but dangerous results are in store for something that gets blown out of proportion.