Los Angeles Journal


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2008-12-11

by Ed Rampell

Doubt

Summary

De omnibus dubitandum (doubt everything).

Article

It’s once more into the priest-pederasty breech, lads! Doubt is a very unpleasant story redeemed and enlivened by two great performances, as Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) and Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) clash over whether or not the pastor acted in a most unseemly way at a Catholic school. Director-screenwriter John Patrick Shanley of Moonstruck fame adapted his play, which is set in 1964 and also deals with the struggle between liberalizing a church ossified by orthodoxy, as well as with race.

Donald Miller (Joseph Foster II), the working class diocese’s first black pupil, is befriended by Flynn, who becomes his protector – but is the pastor something more? The Sister, who is the school’s principal, smells a rat (a cat actually catches one onscreen) and accuses the Father of behaving inappropriately. Flynn represents reform, while Aloysius symbolizes the dogma of mother church. Is her holy war against the priest using her allegations as a ruse to root out liberalization of a hidebound archaic institution? Or are they well-founded suspicions?
Certainty fights with doubt, as Hoffman and Streep chew up the scenery in this ugly tale. Expect them both to get Oscar nominations. Poor Amy Adams (as the snitch who has regrets, Sister James) has the thankless job of getting in between not only these two characters, but these two character actors, who are among Tinseltown’s titans.

Whether as Truman Capote (for which he won an Oscar in 2005’s Capote), as a CIA agent in 2007’s Charlie Wilson’s War, etc., Hoffman is an actor’s actor, as opposed to a movie star. His recent performances in The Savages and Synecdoche, New York plus the especially the breathtaking Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead are simply unforgettable. Philip reminds me of that other Hoffman – Dustin – who likewise catapulted to the front ranks of screen acting in the late 1960s, despite the fact that neither of these thesps possesses stereotypical leading man looks and charisma. Along with Streep, who is still going strong, Philip is the best argument for buying a ticket to see the dreary Doubt.

Like its subject matter, Shanley’s racial depiction is also troubling. Shanley’s script for 1995’s Congo was obviously written by somebody who’d never set foot on the so-called “Dark Continent.” Then there was the 1990’s Joe Versus the Volcano – the only other feature Shanley also directed from his script – that had every South Seas celluloid stereotype you could shake a stick at in it. In Doubt Joseph Foster II is impassive as 12-year-old Miller, and gives us no clue as to what really went on between him and his parish priest. This is especially annoying as the film never comes clean by revealing the truth and what actually happened.
But even more disturbing is the boy’s mother, Viola Davis, who turns in a powerful performance as a cleaning lady so downtrodden by white dominated society that she’s willing to allow her son to be violated if it enables him to advance up the social ladder and order of things. Along with her description of her husband, Donald’s father, as a brute who mercilessly beats his son, Shanley has once again constructed an extremely troubling picture of ethnic minorities, just as our first African-American president is about to take office.

Although they were dealt a setback in the 2008 election, the inquisitorial forces of religious intolerance and dogma are still among us. As for moi, I prefer Karl Marx’s motto: “doubt everything.” And unless you are a big fan of gripping acting or especially interested in matters pertaining to the church, I sincerely doubt you’ll enjoy this depressing drama, ill-timed for a Christmas season release. What were they thinking?