January 7, 2009: Doubt
Thinking back on my viewing of Doubt, I recall a lean, purposeful story about moral struggles laid over the struggles for power and influence in a New York City catholic church and boys’ school in the 1960s. This is one of those movies which grows in my estimation in the weeks following the viewing. A deceptively simple tale yet one which is almost irritatingly complex when you get to thinking about it, it’s a low-key acting showcase despite occasional forays into standard Oscar-trolling scenery chewing. I wasn’t entirely sold on the story and certainly not on the pacing, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out on a second viewing. I’d still recommend it, though.
The chief conflict is between the female principal of the school (Meryl Streep) and the resident priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman), over the priest’s supposed indiscretions with one of the young male students. Amy Adams is a young teacher in the school who is instrumental in bringing the controversy to light but then caught in the middle, and Viola Davis goes head-to-head with Streep in a memorable scene as the boy’s mother. To what lengths will Streep go to protect a boy she suspects but is not sure is being abused, when both the boy and his mother have their reasons for letting things continue along as they are? How can the church and the God she believes in let this happen?
I say the story is deceptively simple because on the surface there is the issue of certainty versus doubt, and how either one of these can unite people (this is explored directly in one of the sermons), and how those two feelings play out differently in the minds of each different person. Keep in mind the setting, a time when the Kennedy assassination was still fresh in everyone’s mind, racial tension was palpable but not always in the ways we imagine, and religion was a much more prominent backdrop to everyday life. Religion is, of course, firmly rooted in the question of faith – certainty versus doubt.
The film is written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, adapting from his own 2004 play. Shanley is primarily a screenwriter, his most notable entry being Moonstruck (1987). He has directed once before, Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), which is unfortunately the type of fiasco which results in someone never directing again. Let’s face it, 18 years between jobs means that’s NOT your profession. Anyway, it looks like Shanley has seen a career resurrection in the film world as a result of this star-studded and successful piece of work.
Doubt ended up with five Oscar nominations, four of them for acting. Powerhouse Meryl Streep, who is often accused of having a shelf full of Oscars but in fact only has two despite her now-record 15 nominations, gets a nod for Best Actress. Best Actor winner from a few years ago for Capote and roundly considered one of the most versatile and courageous actors working today, Philip Seymour Hoffman also has a lead acting nomination. Amy Adams is an up-and-comer sure to win eventually (check out her performance in Junebug from a few years back, when she really started to be noticed, and she has also proven herself in a wide range of roles) and has a supporting nomination as the young teacher who doesn’t know what to do in the face of her two major authority figures being stuck and confused. Viola Davis has been around for a while and has done lots of TV work, but this looks like a break-out role for her (when Meryl Streep in an award acceptance speech demands that someone give you a movie, it’s a pretty good bet that you’re going somewhere). Shanley also received a nomination for his screenplay adapted from his earlier play. Alas, there were no wins on Oscar night, but such is life.
The ending does lend some desired clarity with Streep explaining her doubts in more detail. There end up being some powerful questions asked, they have no answers and that’s how we leave these characters, and that’s exactly how it should be. For me, the core strength of the story comes from the mother of the potentially abused child, as she directly forces us to consider what makes a good authority figure for a child, and the devastating but necessary compromises made when all of the available ones have major flaws.
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