Doubt

Doubt begins with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Flynn, a new priest at St. Nicholas Church and School in the Bronx. Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is the stern principal, the nun who rules with an iron fist and a steely glare. She is both old and old school; while Father Flynn tries to befriend the children, she rules by fear. Sister James (Amy Adams), a naïve young teacher, is caught between the two when she tells Sister Aloysius that she believes something inappropriate may have happened between Flynn and a young black boy—-the school's only black student. Sister James just suspects, but Sister Aloysius has no doubt.

Sister Aloysius and Flynn soon trade pointed barbs and accusations. It's clear that she has it in for him, but why? She doesn't like him, and resents his free spirit, but is she using that as an excuse to ruin the man's life and career? Did he do what he is accused of? It's never really clear, and that is both tantalizing and frustrating. Doubt cheats a bit, showing the audience some bits while withholding others. There are plenty of clashing forces at work in the carefully-crafted script by John Patrick Shanley, based on his award-winning play. There's youth and old age; secularism and religiosity, black and white, guilt and innocence. It all adds up to intriguing entertainment.

Doubt's origin as a stage play is clear; much of the action takes place in rooms and offices, which works as long as you have excellent actors. Fortunately for Shanley, he does. The acting is uniformly good, though the role of a rigid, austere nun is one that Meryl Streep could play in her sleep. It's only a few steps removed from her turn as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, and she bites into the role for all she's worth. Hoffman is perfect in tone, carefully treading the line between being friendly and perhaps a little too friendly. Amy Adams, however, seemed miscast. Her acting is fine, and her eyes held both fear and earnestness when they needed to, but her luminescent beauty and pluck made her seem less like a nun than a co-ed dressed as a nun for Halloween. I never really took her seriously in the role.

Shanley's heavy-handedness as a director kept the film from achieving the heights it otherwise might. For example, when Sister Aloysius asks Father Flynn about his encounter with the young man, she dramatically and suddenly opens the window shutters in her office. Father Flynn blinks and winces, caught in the Light of Truth. Or something.

Doubt works as a meditation on uncertainty; the uncertainty of our convictions and beliefs. How certain are you of your assumptions (about yourself, about the world, about other people), and what are the consequences if you are wrong? In a world where blind faith is not only valued but ubiquitous, doubt is both humbling and healthy. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose economic wisdom and insights were held as gospel for decades, had a blind faith in free markets, never imagining the near-collapse of the American economy late last year: "I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organizations...were such that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders..." The Bush administration tolerated no dissent or doubts about attacking Iraq following the September 11 terrorist attacks conducted by Saudi Arabians. Countless examples of misguided certainty have cost much in blood and treasure, and Doubt is a thoughtful consideration of the value of doubt.