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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Miramax
Salesrank: 1778
Released: April 7, 2009 |
| Our Price: $18.52 |
| Used Price: $3.75 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
From Miramax Films comes one of the most honored and acclaimed motion pictures of the year, Doubt. Based on the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, Doubt is a mesmerizing, suspense-filled drama with four riveting performances from Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis that will have you pinned to the edge of your seat. Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Streep), the rigid and fear-inspiring principal of the Saint Nicholas Church School, suffers an extreme dislike for the progressive and popular parish priest Father Flynn (Hoffman). Looking for wrongdoing in every corner, Sister Aloysius believes she's uncovered the ultimate sin when she hears Father Flynn has taken a special interest in a troubled boy. But without proof, the only thing certain is doubt.
"One of the best pictures of the year," (USA Today, Rolling Stone, New York Post, San Francisco Examiner, Roger Ebert).
Bonus Features include From Stage To Screen, Scoring Doubt, The Sisters Of Charity
Description of Doubt:
It's always a risk when writers direct their own work, since some playwrights don't travel well from stage to screen. Aided by Roger Deakins, of No Country for Old Men fame, who vividly captures the look of a blustery Bronx winter, Moonstruck's John Patrick Shanley pulls it off. If Doubt makes for a dialogue-heavy experience, like The Crucible and 12 Angry Men, the words and ideas are never dull, and a consummate cast makes each one count. Set in 1964 and loosely inspired by actual events, Shanley focuses on St. Nicholas, a Catholic primary school that has accepted its first African-American student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster), who serves as altar boy to the warm-hearted Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Donald may not have any friends, but that doesn't worry his mother, Mrs. Miller (Viola Davis in a scene-stealing performance), since her sole concern is that her son gets a good education. When Sister James (Amy Adams) notices Flynn concentrating more of his attentions on Miller than the other boys, she mentions the matter to Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the school's hard-nosed principal. Looking for any excuse to push the progressive priest out of her tradition-minded institution, Sister Aloysius sets out to destroy him, and if that means ruining Donald's future in the process--so be it. Naturally, she's the least sympathetic combatant in this battle, but Streep invests her disciplinarian with wit and unexpected flashes of empathy. Of all the characters she's played, Sister Aloysius comes closest to caricature, but she never feels like a cartoon; just a sad woman willing to do anything to hold onto what little she has before the forces of change render her--and everything she represents--redundant. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Stills from Doubt (Click for larger image)
Doubt Reviews:
BETTER THAN AVERAGE, BUT NEVER REACHES GREATNESS! 3 1/2 STARS! 
2009-12-06 - I know many people really liked this film, but despite having some good performances, this film just didn't completely grab me. The story is interesting, but I found it to be predictable and slow. The cast is very good, but certainly not any of their best work, although I found Streep's character to be amusing at times. The story goes where I expected it to go and if not for the last few minutes the film wouldn't have gotten that extra half a star. I liked the ending and it helped me to appreciate the film for what it is.
Enjoyed it, despite my doubts 
2009-12-01 - I enjoyed this movie, although the decision to set it in 1960s Brooklyn created some doubts in my mind that I don't think the director intended.
First, you have to get over the nuns' habits, which made me think at first that the movie was set among the Puritans of 1600s America. Then, you have to adjust to Meryl Streep's heavy Brooklyn accent, which is so over-the-top it's a hoot. Flickering lights and blowing leaves are also a heavy-handed device.
Beyond that, you can settle in to enjoy a story that is full of intrigue, despite the lack of much onscreen action. Did the priest molest a boy or didn't he?
Without printing any spoilers, I will say that I doubted that Meryl Streep's nun could have the power to bring down a Catholic priest of that era. Today, after the pedophile scandals, yes. In the 1960s, no. Also, if there is any doubt about the priest's guilt, why does he act the way he does? It didn't add up for me. Doubts of faith seemed plausible to me, doubts of other kinds didn't.
Still, I much prefer this kind of movie, in which the inner lives of the protagonists are rich, and their motives mixed. Its origin as a stage play is evident, and that's all for the better, I say.
Intelligent Drama
2009-11-30 - The acting is top form. Meryl Streep is amazing.
This movie is an exercise in subtlety, subtext and nuance - the film begs an intelligent audience, willing and ready to think for him or herself.
Be prepared to draw your own conclusions. You, as well as the actors, are players in this movie. You will have just as much information as the characters do at the end of this movie when the time to comes to make a decision about the one burning question that thrust this movie forward.
The dialogue is sharp and witty: no one ever directly answers the question posed to him or her. Responses are always oblique, which makes the movie intriguing, beguiling. You sort of look at it like an exotic plant you can't take your eyes off of.
classic 
2009-11-28 - Doubt is not an easy film, which is what makes it work so well. The answers to the questions it poses are not readily evident
In 1964, a young idealistic priest starts work at a New York Catholic boys school, which just enroled its first black student. The school is run by an old school nun, who favors discipline over nuturing. The priest and nun are played by Philip Seamour Hoffman and Marrel Streep. Amy Adams plays the younger teacher trying to bridge the two.
Hoffman's charactor is accused of molesting the young black student. There is evidence to suggest he did, but evidence to suggest he did not. Both nun and priest bring their own biasis to their argument--they highly dislike one another on personal and politcal ground--so who you beleive depends may depend on who you agree with. If this sounds subjective, think of how Amy Adam's charactor felt when chosing sides. She is the kindest here and the only person with no clear agenda.
This was right after Vatican II, which tried to update dogma in the Catholic Faith. Doubt is also set during civil rights toumoil, and the indrodution of the pill. In 1964, the counterculture was not visable yet, but was budding. The film is about old vs. new, tradition vs. change, all the ambiguities surrounding this.
You are probably more confused at the end of Doubt then when you began, but the challange this film lays before you is what films are supposed to and to rarely do now. It gets you thinking and discussing and debating, and that is more than enough.
Poignant, Thought-Provoking, Riveting!!!!
2009-11-24 - As with all art forms, the perspective bought into the mix totally defines the impact. This was an excellent screen adaptation of the award-winning play by director, John Patrick Shanley which ultimately resulted in a uniquely liberating, somewhat painful, yet truly thought-provoking viewing experience. Kudos goes to the principal players, Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis and Joseph Foster, all of whom gave wrenching award-worthy performances.
The story is set in the mid-sixties, not long after the assassination of JFK. A Catholic school in the Bronx accepts its first black student, Donald Miller, beautifully portrayed by Joseph Foster. The priest, wonderfully realized by Phillip Seyour Hoffman, is truly empathetic and realizing what a struggle it must be for the student, keeps an eye on him to make sure he adjusts well to this new and very intricate situation. Because of his attention, one sister, a very effective Amy Adams, initially becomes slightly suspicious of his motives and, unfortunately, reports her suspicions to the principal, an exceedingly pedagogical nun, exquisitely played by Meryl Streep. She, of course, confronts the priest with her suspicions which he vehemently denies and she steadfastly refuses to believe. She even confronts the boy's mother, portrayed by Viola Davis who gives a wrenching performance. The encounter between these two is as taut and revealing as those between the accusing nun and the outraged priest. The overall dialogue is crisp, biting, poignant and positively riveting.
Certain aspects of this whole scenario evoked poignant memories making it rather easy for me to relate to. Moreover, certain revelations the mother made to the nun re the boy's home life raised VERY serious questions. These questions will be at the focal point of any discussions about the play for the simple reason the author wisely neither confirmed nor denied those suspicions which, obviously, was pivotal to the whole theme. Any "doubts" you find yourself faced with while watching this further fuels the profound impact the film makes because in the final analysis, it will be up to the viewer to draw his/her own conclusions - as well it should be. The ending is little short of devastating.
With such a riveting and important play being realized by a positively flawless cast, this could hardly miss. Just eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeescellent. I hiiiiiiiiihgly recommend!!!!
