Doubt (2008 film): Difference between revisions
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Set in [[1964]] at a [[Catholic]] church in the [[Bronx]], [[New York City|New York]], the film opens with Father Flynn ([[Philip Seymour Hoffman]]) giving a [[sermon]] on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. The next evening, Sister Aloysius ([[Meryl Streep]]), the strict [[Principal (school)|principal]] of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the [[Sisters of Charity of New York]]. She asks if anyone has observed unusual behavior to give Father Flynn cause for preaching about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open for any such behavior. |
Set in [[1964]] at a [[Catholic]] church in the [[Bronx]], [[New York City|New York]], the film opens with Father Flynn ([[Philip Seymour Hoffman]]) giving a [[sermon]] on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. The next evening, Sister Aloysius ([[Meryl Streep]]), the strict [[Principal (school)|principal]] of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the [[Sisters of Charity of New York]]. She asks if anyone has observed unusual behavior to give Father Flynn cause for preaching about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open for any such behavior. |
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Sister James ([[Amy Adams (actress)|Amy Adams]]), a young and [[naive]] teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school's only black student and an [[altar boy]]. One day during class, Sister James receives a call in her class asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the [[rectory]]. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of |
Sister James ([[Amy Adams (actress)|Amy Adams]]), a young and [[naive]] teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school's only black student and an [[altar boy]]. One day during class, Sister James receives a call in her class asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the [[rectory]]. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later, while her students are learning a dance, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald's locker. On guard for unusual behavior, Sister James reveals her suspicions to Sister Aloysius. |
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Under the pretext of discussing problems with the school's Christmas play, Sisters Aloysius and James confront Father Flynn with their suspicions that his relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himself but Sister Aloysius persists. |
Under the pretext of discussing problems with the school's Christmas play, Sisters Aloysius and James confront Father Flynn with their suspicions that his relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himself but Sister Aloysius persists. Father Flynn then reveals that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine and that he had promised Donald not to tell anyone about the incident, and to allow Donald to remain an altar boy. Having now been forced to break that promise and reveal the truth, he will need to dismiss Donald as an altar boy. Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius that he is displeased in the way she handled this. |
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Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius' belief that he has behaved inappropriately with the boy is unshakable. Sister James later confronts Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald's locker, having not revealed this detail to Sister Aloysius. They discuss his relationship with the boy. Father Flynn reveals a reasonable explanation for the situation and Sister James' doubts are assuaged. |
Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius' belief that he has behaved inappropriately with the boy is unshakable. Sister James later confronts Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald's locker, having not revealed this detail to Sister Aloysius. They discuss his relationship with the boy. Father Flynn reveals a reasonable explanation for the situation and Sister James' doubts are assuaged. |
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Revision as of 04:18, 9 February 2010
| Doubt | |
|---|---|
 US Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Patrick Shanley |
| Written by | John Patrick Shanley |
| Produced by | Scott Rudin |
| Starring | Meryl Streep Philip Seymour Hoffman Amy Adams Viola Davis |
| Cinematography | Roger Deakins |
| Edited by | Dylan Tichenor |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release dates | October 30, 2008 (AFI Fest) December 12, 2008 (limited) December 25, 2008 (wide) |
Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $37,309,677[1] |
Doubt is a 2008 film adaptation of the John Patrick Shanley stage play Doubt: A Parable. Written and directed by Shanley and produced by Scott Rudin, the film stars Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis, who were all nominated for Oscars at the 2009 ceremonies. It premiered on October 30, 2008 at the AFI Fest before being distributed by Miramax Films in limited release on December 12, 2008 and in a wide release on Christmas Day.
Plot
Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, New York, the film opens with Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) giving a sermon on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. The next evening, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the strict principal of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the Sisters of Charity of New York. She asks if anyone has observed unusual behavior to give Father Flynn cause for preaching about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open for any such behavior.
Sister James (Amy Adams), a young and naive teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school's only black student and an altar boy. One day during class, Sister James receives a call in her class asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the rectory. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later, while her students are learning a dance, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald's locker. On guard for unusual behavior, Sister James reveals her suspicions to Sister Aloysius.
Under the pretext of discussing problems with the school's Christmas play, Sisters Aloysius and James confront Father Flynn with their suspicions that his relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himself but Sister Aloysius persists. Father Flynn then reveals that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine and that he had promised Donald not to tell anyone about the incident, and to allow Donald to remain an altar boy. Having now been forced to break that promise and reveal the truth, he will need to dismiss Donald as an altar boy. Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius that he is displeased in the way she handled this.
Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius' belief that he has behaved inappropriately with the boy is unshakable. Sister James later confronts Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald's locker, having not revealed this detail to Sister Aloysius. They discuss his relationship with the boy. Father Flynn reveals a reasonable explanation for the situation and Sister James' doubts are assuaged.
Sister Aloysius sends for Donald Miller's mother to reveal her suspicions. Mrs. Miller (Viola Davis) shocks 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. She also hints at Donald's homosexuality and reveals that his father is physically abusive, suggesting that the abuse is on that account. She begs Sister Aloysius to drop the matter, and rationalizes Donald's relationship with Father Flynn to protect him from his father, and because his chances of going to a better high school would increase after finishing from a prestigious church school.
Despite having no evidence and no support from Donald's mother, Sister Aloysius in their final showdown demands that Father Flynn tell the truth or she will go to his superiors. Father Flynn repeats that there is no illicit relationship, but Sister Aloysius says she knows that he has a history of problems, having moved to three different parishes in five years. She tells him that she has contacted a nun at one of his prior churches (she refuses to say whom) and that this nun corroborated her suspicions. Father Flynn is furious that she has contacted a nun rather than the church's pastor; the latter being the proper church protocol. Sister Aloysius demands that he resign. Father Flynn explains that he cannot tell her everything, suggesting the possibility that he has not been physically inappropriate with Donald, but has befriended him because he, too, is homosexual. However, unable to stand up to her willingness to destroy his reputation, he succumbs to her demands.
Following his final sermon, the nuns sit together in the church garden. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that although Father Flynn has left, he has been promoted from assistant pastor to that of pastor at a different church and its parochial school, in effect a promotion. She goes on to reveal that she lied about speaking to a nun at Father Flynn's former church, and thus never found hard evidence against him. Repeating a line from earlier in the film, Sister Aloysius says that "in the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God."
Sister Aloysius concludes that one also pays a price in pursuing wrongdoing. She breaks down in tears and reveals to Sister James "I have such doubts." The viewer is left to determine on his or her own whether her doubt is related to Father Flynn's actions or to her own deeper personal beliefs and perspectives.
Cast
- Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan Flynn
- Amy Adams as Sister James
- Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller
- Joseph Foster as Donald Miller
- Alice Drummond as Sister Veronica
Production
Production began on December 1, 2007.[2] The film, which centers on a Bronx Catholic school, was filmed in various areas of the Bronx, including Parkchester, St. Anthony's Catholic School, and the College of Mount Saint Vincent, as well as Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.[3] The "garden" exterior scenes were shot at the historic Episcopal Church St. Luke in the Fields on Hudson Street in New York's Greenwich Village. The associated St. Luke's School was also heavily featured.
Reception
Based on 203 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 77% approval rating. The site reported in a consensus that "Doubt succeeds on the strength of its top-notch cast, who successfully guide the film through the occasional narrative lull."[4] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a 68/100 approval rating based on 36 reviews.[5] Critic Manohla Dargis of The New York Times concluded that "the air is thick with paranoia in 'Doubt,' but nowhere as thick, juicy, sustained or sustaining as Meryl Streep's performance."[6]
Viola Davis' performance drew her critical raves. Salon magazine declared that Davis' character Mrs. Miller was acted with "a near-miraculous level of believability ... Davis, in her small, one-scene role, is incredibly moving - I can barely remember a Davis performance where I haven't been moved ... [she] plays her character, an anxious, hardworking woman who's just trying to hold her life and family together, by holding everything close. She's not a fountain of emotion, dispensing broad expression or movement; instead, she keeps it all inside and lets us in."[7]
NPR called Davis' acting in the movie "the film's most wrenching performance ... the other [actors] argue strenuously and occasionally even eloquently, to ever-diminishing effect; Davis speaks plainly and quietly, and leaves [no] doubt that the moral high ground is a treacherous place to occupy in the real world."[8]
John Podhoretz thought Davis's role stretched credulity. "We are supposed to imagine that a put-upon working-class black woman in 1964--Viola Davis, who may win an Oscar for best supporting actress largely because she goes without a tissue for a few minutes--would possess an attitude so profoundly progressive that she would put the video-making opponents of California's Proposition 8 to shame."[9]
Roger Ebert, who thought Davis' performance worthy of an Academy award, gave the film four stars, his highest rating, and praised its "exact and merciless writing, powerful performances and timeless relevance. It causes us to start thinking with the first shot," he continued, "and we never stop."[10]
Top ten lists
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[11]
- 2nd – James Berardinelli, ReelViews[11]
- 2nd – Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News[11]
- 8th – Kyle Smith, New York Post[11]
- 8th – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone[11]
- 9th – David Edelstein, New York magazine[11]
- 10th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter[11]
- 10th – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian[11]
Awards
Doubt received five Academy Awards nominations on January 22, 2009, for its four lead actors and for Shanley's script.
| Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Outcome |
| Academy Awards | Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Amy Adams | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Viola Davis | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | John Patrick Shanley | Nominated | |
| BAFTA Awards | Best Leading Actress | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Amy Adams | Nominated | |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Amy Adams | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Viola Davis | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | John Patrick Shanley | Nominated | |
| Critics' Choice Awards | Best Picture | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Viola Davis | Nominated | |
| Best Acting Ensemble | Nominated | ||
| Best Writer | John Patrick Shanley | Nominated | |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Viola Davis | Won |
| Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actress | Amy Adams | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Nominated | |
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | Amy Adams | Nominated | |
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | Viola Davis | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | John Patrick Shanley | Nominated | |
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Viola Davis | Won |
| Best Cast | Won | ||
| National Board of Review Awards | Breakthrough Performance by an Actress | Viola Davis | Won |
| Best Cast | Won | ||
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | Spotlight Award | Amy Adams | Won |
| Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Won |
| Satellite Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Nominated | |
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Viola Davis | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay – Adapted | John Patrick Shanley | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role | Meryl Streep | Won |
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | Amy Adams | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | Viola Davis | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Nominated | ||
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Amy Adams | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actress | Viola Davis | Won | |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Won |
| Best Cast | Won | ||
References
- ^ "Doubt". Box Office Mojo. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ^ Pincus-Roth, Zachary (19 April 2007). "Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman to Star in Doubt Film". Playbill. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
- ^ "The benefit of the 'Doubt'". Daily News (New York). 5 February, 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Doubt - Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. 30 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
- ^ "Doubt (2008):Reviews". Metacritic. 30 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
- ^ The New York Times Movie Review of Doubt, Dec 12, 2008
- ^ http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2008/12/12/doubt/index.html
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98088645
- ^ [1]
- ^ Ebert review
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
