No Doubt it succeeds

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I think it is difficult for people of my generation, at least those in their 20s or early 30s who did not attend military school, to imagine a time when their teachers, coaches, parents and friends’ parents, strictly played those roles and didn’t try to be befriend them. A blurring of the lines between authority figure and friend has almost always been my experience. Though a priest’s alleged inappropriate relationship with a young student has grabbed the headlines for hyping John Patrick Shanley’s film adaptation of Doubt, the setting of the picture in 1964 plays maybe an even greater role in the film’s conflict.

Like Robin Williams’ masterful turn as a scholastic rebel in Dead Poets Society, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a forward-thinking priest who wants to have personal relationships with his Bronx school’s students, and—gasp!—even have the kids sing “Frosty the Snowman” during the Christmas pageant. But opposing change is the brilliant Meryl Streep as nun who believes Christianity for children should be about little more than complete obedience to rigid discipline. Also starring is Amy Adams as a meek young sister caught between the unmovable Hoffman and Streep glaciers. When Adams begins to think Hoffman’s priest has taken too much of an interest in the school’s first black student, Streep’s warden mentality kicks in and battle lines are drawn.

Doubt rarely strays from its stage roots. Most scenes are two characters in a room talking. But the dialogue and foreboding intrigue established by the allegations against the priest are more than enough to keep things interesting. It helps of course that the three leads, and even Viola Davis in a cameo as the young boy’s mother, all give stellar performances. The ultimate verbal showdown between Hoffman and Streep is as thrilling as anything Iron Man offered this year. Each actor clearly mark their moral territory after just a few lines of dialogue, and it is to Shanley’s credit these character exhibit qualities attractive and questionable in almost equal measure.

Though a few more cinematic flourishes, like musical montages or subplot with the children, would have beefed up the play-like script, Doubt remains a remarkable film-going experience. It’s a film you want to discuss afterward long into the night over a cup of coffee, and those are usually my favorites.