Powerful Performances in a Film of Ideas
Four actors in Doubt (2008) received Academy Award nominations for their performances: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis. The movie was written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, who got an Oscar nod for adapting his own award-winning Broadway play to the screen.
Doubt is not only a showcase for its fine actors, it is also a film that makes viewers want to talk about the issues it raises. Although the story is taut and easy to follow, much is left in ambiguity, inviting differing interpretations.
The movie is set at a Catholic school in the Bronx in 1964, and the period details give it a feeling of authenticity. The principal (Meryl Streep), an unlikable, authoritarian nun, becomes suspicious that a genial, progressive priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is behaving inappropriately with a 12-year-old male student. Amy Adams plays an idealistic young nun who teaches at the school, and Viola Davis — who has the best scene in the film — portrays the boy's mother.
But the focus here isn't on Catholic scandals or pedophilia — these are used as backdrops for Shanley to explore what it means to try to do the right thing given that decisions must be made in the face of uncertainty.
Doubt is a somber, claustrophobic film that sometimes looks like a horror movie, and Streep's mannered portrayal of her character borders on caricature. The dialog is superb, but the film's stage origins are apparent, and the final two lines don't work on screen. But despite some unevenness, the movie is well worth seeing.
Four Featurettes and a Director's Audio Commentary
The Doubt DVD provides 44 minutes of video extras. The best of these is the 19-minute "From Stage to Screen," in which Shanley tells how he wrote the play based in part on his own experiences going to Catholic school in the 1960s. He goes on to discuss transposing the play to the screen, which involved introducing many minor characters and using a variety of locations.
Another good bonus material is the six-and-a-half-minute "Sisters of Charity." Here you get to hear from four real-life nuns who are members of the order depicted in the film. Nowadays they wear civilian clothes rather than the habits shown in the movie. One of these nuns was the model for Amy Adams' character.
The four-and-a-half-minute "Scoring Doubt" is mildly interesting and gives you a chance to hear from composer Harry Shore, who says he used mostly chamber music because of the intimacy of the story.
The least engaging extra is the 14-minute "The Cast of Doubt," in which Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger talks with the film's four main actors. In response to one of Karger's questions, Streep makes the point that almost anyone who goes to a play is prepared to be challenged, but the same cannot be said about moviegoers.
Another bonus material is the reasonably informative feature-length audio commentary by writer-director Shanley. He says he was an altar boy for years and identifies the parts of the film shot in the neighborhood where he grew up. He also discusses his attempts to add visual interest, including in a scene that consists of three characters in a room talking for 10 minutes.
DVD Details
Below I have listed all the details for the Doubt DVD.
Release Date: April 7, 2009
Feature Film Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for Thematic Material
Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Language Track
English Closed Captioned for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Writer-Director John Patrick Shanley
From Stage to Screen (19 min.)
The Cast of Doubt (14 min.)
Scoring Doubt (4 1/2 min.)
The Sisters of Charity (6 1/2 min.)
