Doubt (2008/I)

Director: John Patrick Shanley

Cast: Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan Flynn, Amy Adams as Sister James, Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller, Alice Drummond as Sister Veronica, Audrie Neenan as Sister Raymond, Susan Blommaert as Mrs. Carson, Carrie Preston as Christine Hurley, John Costelloe as Warren Hurley, Lloyd Clay Brown as Jimmy Hurley, Joseph Foster as Donald Miller (as Joseph Foster II), Mike Roukis as William London, Haklar Dezso as Zither Player, Frank Shanley as Kevin, Robert Ridgell as Organist

Doubt {dir. John Patrick Shanley} (****/****)

Although it includes some heavy themes, Doubt, is one of the most
entertaining and involving films to come along in quite sometime.
Rarely have my heart and mind been so engaged in a film simultaneously.
At its heart, Doubt remains the stage play upon which it is based,
about a priest who is accused of having an inappropriate relationship
with a young boy. The priest is played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and
the nun investigating (Sister Aloysius, great name) the situation is
played by Meryl Streep, the best living actress and the best actress of
the year. The language used in the film treats the situation very
carefully and the confrontations between the characters crackle with
well- written intensity. The film's central theme is indeed the title:
Doubt. As an audience, we are left to our own devices in judging Father
Flynn's relationship to the young boy. This uncertainty is a rare and
valuable thing in film today. Great performances, wonderful writing and
tough themes.