Doubt

Genre: Drama

Language: English

Director: John Patrick Shanley

Cast: Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Amy Adams (Enchanted),Viola Davis

Runtime: 104mins

Plot:

Its 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A vibrant, charismatic priest, Father Flynn (Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman), is trying to upend the schools strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Academy Award winner Meryl Streep), the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James (Academy Award nominee Amy Adams), a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequence.

Watched this on 26 Jan night @ The Cathay with Sylvia.

With little awareness of the plot, i watched the movie, hoping it will not be boring. Luckily Meryl Streep delivered the usually good performace as Sister Aloysius, the strict principal of the attached school.Her pinched portrayal of Sister Aloysius is an Oscar-worthy study in tangled motivations, a woman who has determined she will serve God even at risk of losing her immortal soul. She is capable of deceit, but at the same time she shows compassion, as seen in her kindly attentions to a nun who is going blind.

Another actress who caught my attention was Viola Davis, whose character was Mrs Miller, the mother of the black student. There was a part when Sister Aloysius sends for Donald Miller's mother to reveal her suspicions. Mrs Miller surprises 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. Mrs. Miller believes her son to be gay. To protect him from his abusive father, she asks that the matter be dropped. Viola Davis gave her real emotions and the whole part was really moving. 1st class acting I must say!

Although the movie was simple, yet it brings out a message. Whenever there is questionable on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force.

ah-deng says- 4/5 Decent and 1st class acting, no joke.