John’s Movie Musings

As humans, we don’t like doubt.  We don’t know what to do with it so we treat it like a stranger we’ve known our whole life.  Our minds seem wired for facts or proof.  At least, those are easily digestible.   But proof doesn’t build trust.  That only comes from faith – which just happens to be joined at the hip of doubt.

So I was intrigued at how Hollywood would try and unpack this tangled mess of emotions.  Doubt centers on the relationship between a Catholic priest and the chief nun at a school.  The priest is soon suspected of abusing one of the alter boys and the nun, armed with her “certainty,” begins a campaign to get him punished.  You’ve got Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep as these two characters and you can be assured that they are portrayed brilliantly.

At first, I was a little concerned about setting this story within the Catholic Church.  Hollywood and the Church don’t exactly see eye to eye on things and I was worried that the movie would just be a hack job.  Fortunately, my fears were unwarranted.  The Church in Doubt just exists.  It’s not good.  It’s not bad.  There are no judgments about it at all.  In fact, what’s so brilliant is that any judgments you bring into the movie will color your suspicions of the priest’s guilt or innocence.  Even the characters are designed (and portrayed) with enough flaws and redeeming qualities that picking a side before the end will only happen if you bring something to the story – not from the events on-screen.

I won’t spoil the ending, but Doubt is one of those movies you talk about with a bunch of your close friends around beer or coffee.  And that is certainly not a bad thing.

Grade: A