Doubt
John Patrick Shanley directs his own script, based on his Pulitzer prize winning play about the rivalry between a nun and a priest at a Catholic school in the Bronx in 1964.
Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) grows suspicious of Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) when he takes a special interest in the life of a young black student. He denies her charges of molestation. A young nun, Sister James (Amy Adams), finds herself torn between the two authority figures, unsure of who to trust.
- Director:
- John Patrick Shanley ('Joe Versus the Volcano')
- Writer:
- John Patrick Shanley
- Cast:
- Meryl StreepPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsViola DavisLloyd Clay BrownJoseph Foster
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Andrew Hedley
flicksDoubt is a film in which intellectual thought is prized over cinematic satisfaction. Its origin as a stage play is evident - few characters, limited locations, brevity and lots of talking. While this sort of translation can often make for involving drama, in this case the adaptation for the screen feels like something of a neutered theoretical exercise.
So much unspoken and left to the imagination
The assumed substance matter of this movie will have scared away many viewers. That is a shame because the movie gets its energy from what is not said or revealed. Hinted at. Guessed at. Speculated on barren poisoned minds. Gossiped about. But not "out there". "Doubt" is a gem.
Village Voice
pressDoubt is only marginally, and tendentiously, about moral uncertainty--it's more about the sins of a nosy old biddy who pulls out all the stops when going through the official channels of a male-dominated Catholic Church would get her nowhere.
Roger Ebert
pressDoubt has exact and merciless writing, powerful performances and timeless relevance. It causes us to start thinking with the first shot, and we never stop. Think how rare that is in a film.
New Zealand Herald
pressIt's a triumph of production design - you can practically smell the floor polish and the starch on the linen - and Boston in winter never looked so bleak and cheerless. But in the end this is a film for people who like plays - in particular if they pronounce "theatre" as three syllables.
Los Angeles Times
pressShanley seems to have lost a certain amount of faith in what he'd written. As a director he's ended up pushing the drama harder than he needs to. He hasn't done anything fatal, but he has tampered with and hampered it.
Film Threat
pressExhausting yet invigorating, it's a drama one witnesses more than just views.
Flicks, Andrew Hedley
flicksDoubt is a film in which intellectual thought is prized over cinematic satisfaction. Its origin as a stage play is evident - few characters, limited locations, brevity and lots of talking. While this sort of translation can often make for involving drama, in this case the adaptation for the screen feels like something of a neutered theoretical exercise.
Village Voice
pressDoubt is only marginally, and tendentiously, about moral uncertainty--it's more about the sins of a nosy old biddy who pulls out all the stops when going through the official channels of a male-dominated Catholic Church would get her nowhere.
Roger Ebert
pressDoubt has exact and merciless writing, powerful performances and timeless relevance. It causes us to start thinking with the first shot, and we never stop. Think how rare that is in a film.
New Zealand Herald
pressIt's a triumph of production design - you can practically smell the floor polish and the starch on the linen - and Boston in winter never looked so bleak and cheerless. But in the end this is a film for people who like plays - in particular if they pronounce "theatre" as three syllables.
Los Angeles Times
pressShanley seems to have lost a certain amount of faith in what he'd written. As a director he's ended up pushing the drama harder than he needs to. He hasn't done anything fatal, but he has tampered with and hampered it.
Film Threat
pressExhausting yet invigorating, it's a drama one witnesses more than just views.
So much unspoken and left to the imagination
The assumed substance matter of this movie will have scared away many viewers. That is a shame because the movie gets its energy from what is not said or revealed. Hinted at. Guessed at. Speculated on barren poisoned minds. Gossiped about. But not "out there". "Doubt" is a gem.
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