Take Sides
- Doubt review by CP Customer
Easily dismissed as a vehicle for towering performances by Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and most of all Amy Adams. This play has been taken to the big screen with reasonable success. The occasional unusual camera angle from Shanley is unwarranted, as your focus never diminishes during the movie. It almost feels as if the director threw in a curve ball just to shake up the audience. At the end you feel as if you have attended a church service. Doubt was surprisingly better than I had anticipated. The subject matter may seem dry, but it is rich with questions and not so many answers. For those tagging this film with an anti-catholic stance I can only question their logic. It is a scenario about decisions and beliefs, something we all can identify with. The end for some makes the 'doubt' and therefore blame easy to pinpoint for some viewers. Yet I think the interactions and emotions run far deeper and will watch this again. Perhaps changing sides once again in the process.
6 out of 10 members found this review helpful.
Streep a class of her own
- Doubt review by CP Customer
Meryl Streep is such a class act it makes this film well worth watching and I actually felt that it ended too soon. Hoffman and Adams perform an excellent support in a story that is totally believable but leaves you feeling a bit short changed.
3 out of 4 members found this review helpful.
Troubling
- Doubt review by JD
As mentioned in the other reviews the acting is brilliant even from the minor characters and child actors. The essence is partly whether suspicion warrants intervention (smoke without fire) or does paranoia result in victimisation (shit sticks). There is also the parallel strand of the true nature of the characters of the priest and headmistress, is he evil and is she mad? These questions are left lurking and are only partly concluded. It is not a feel good film but a moving one which will stay with you for days. It is a feel bad film but in an interesting way.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Excellent movie
- Doubt review by DH
Superb performances by Streep and the late Seymour Hoffman. Very thought provoking, one of the extras is the writer of the play speaking about how people leaving the theatre all went into deep discussion about what they thought of the end, everyone has a different angle which makes it interesting.
Well worth a watch if you want to see quality acting. Don't bother if you like car chases and things blowing up as you'll be disappointed.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Doubting the author's intentions
- Doubt review by LR
Is it possible that the attentions of a paedophile priest would bring some benefit to the child being targeted? That is the unspoken question which lurks in the background of this film. It seems that the author of the script would like to make us doubt our normal moral judgment that paedophiles are bad people and that their activities should not be condoned. Since the author creates the whole situation he/she is able to stack all the details in favour of the paedophile - thus the moral opposition comes from jealous, sexually frustrated nuns; the boy's mother is glad he found a friend in the priest; we never know for sure if the priest committed any physical sexual acts with the boy; the priest himself is a charming, humorous, liberally-minded person and the boy is sad and lonely. In this way the story is rigged to make us doubt our normal moral attitudes.
If this was a plea for mercy for paedophiles, it would be better if it had stated clearly that sexual acts were involved. When the film refuses to say what is supposed to have happened as far as sex is concerned, it is evading the central question. In the real world, as all the cases of paedophile abuse have shown, there is no doubt about the sexual acts taking place. So it is troubling that the film is coy about the main issue. Why is it not frank and open about it? Take away the excellent performances by A list actors and you are left with a rigged story which makes us feel queasy with its indulgence towards paedophiles.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.