Doubt (2008/I)

Director:

John Patrick Shanley

Writers (WGA):

John Patrick Shanley (screenplay)
John Patrick Shanley (play)

Release Date:

25 December 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

There is no evidence. There are no witnesses. But for one, there is no doubt.

Plot:

Set in 1964, Doubt centers on a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of abusing a black student. He denies the charges, and much of the play's quick-fire dialogue tackles themes of religion, morality, and authority.

Plot Keywords:

School | Priest | Nun | Student | 1964

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 33 nominations

Cast

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

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic material.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #39360) | Ireland:15A | Australia:M | Canada:G (British Columbia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Spain:13 | South Africa:13LS | Hong Kong:IIA | New Zealand:M | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:AL | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Czech Republic:12 | Sweden:7 | Mexico:B | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Goodspeed Productions

Trivia:

The Broadway play ran for over a year at the Walter Kerr Theatre, with 525 performances. The original cast was: Cherry Jones (Sister Aloysius), Brian F. O'Byrne (Father Flynn), Heather Goldenhersh (Sister James) and Adriane Lenox (Mrs. Miller). All four were nominated for a Tony award. The play won four Tony awards: Best Play, Best Director (Doug Hughes), Best Actress (Jones), and Best Featured Actress (Lenox). Author John Patrick Shanley wrote both the stage play and the screenplay adaptation.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The classroom door open inwards. Ever since the 1908 Collinwood school fire in Cleveland, state laws were written to mandate that classroom door opened outward. The panicking children pushed against the doors which prevented escape from the fire resulting in 172 deaths. Rebuilt and renamed as Memorial school, the school was surrounded by gardens in memory of the children who died.

Quotes:

Father Brendan Flynn: A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this. That night, she had a dream: a great hand appeared over her and pointed down on her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#26.34)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Reginella Campagnola

A powerhouse performance!!!

Never have I spent so much time analyzing and discussing such a wonderful piece of work. I thought that No Country for Old Men, Magnolia and Pulp Fiction were movies which I spent the most time discussing various themes and aspects of, both by myself and with others.Now, Doubt has also entered the picture. By analyzing the words used,the actions portrayed, and the emotions felt by the characters, different people come to different conclusions about what really happened behind the scenes of this movie.

The truth is, nobody knows, but the amount of evidence portrayed for one view is almost, or equally, the amount of the other view. This is the kind of movie in which students should be working on because you could have infinite (friendly) debates about it.

However, in my opinion, this phenomenal work is owed partly to the writer(s) and producer(s), but mostly to the actors. The acting in this movie is superb, and that merely describes it. All four Oscar nominated actors deserved them. Meryl Streep was outstanding as the haunting Sister who was slowly beginning to 'step away from God' due to her methods of attempting to discover the truth. Viola Davis exemplified that she only requires about 12 minutes of screen time in order to get nominated for an Academy Award.

Amy Adams, well, I really enjoyed her role and the way she acted it. I think Adams was chosen for this role due to her innocence. When I looked at her, I saw the most innocent person ever, but in addition, she is also very beautiful, in a cute way. (I think I had to add the 'cute' because this is something we usually use to describe children, who are innocent, Adams is a young lady who also appeared very innocent, which is why I thought the 'cute' was necessary).

To conclude with Hoffman's character: WOW! The best in this movie, guaranteed. His final 'showdown' with Streep really reinforces his extreme acting capability. Hoffman easily stole the show in this movie and due to this role, I have to say, he poses as the greatest threat to the deceased Heath Ledger. The way Hoffman expresses his emotions, in not only this movie, but every movie, is better than any other actor. For some reason, no matter what his role, I always have that feeling of sympathy for his character. His eyes, the way he just looks at someone and says something just runs a chill down my spine. His eyebrows, the way they just light up when he is changing his tone, everyone does this, every actor does this, but Hoffman just has a natural ability to express his emotions the best!!!

I'm going to give this flick a 10 and make room for it in my personal top list of movies. The script, the acting and especially the post discussion in this movie is all worth it, and if I did not give it a 10, I would have to ask myself: "What more could I want?"