Doubt

By Clint Morris

The difference between a concert and a movie? The concert is generally considered lackluster if the artist merely reads his lines into a microphone.

And though we generally appreciate a little more than that when it comes to a movie, it doesn’t seem to matter if we don’t get more – not if those lines are delivered skilfully. You see, though film is a visual medium you don’t necessarily need to have a lot going on on the screen to appreciate the picture. In the case of ‘’Doubt’’, there’s very little else going on on screen but three great performers delivering their lines with gusto and passion. But unlike, say, a Billy Joel or Killers concert, where you’d actually prefer they put their instruments down and talk to the audience, or even do a few cartwheels on stage just to shake things up, that’s more than enough to suffice the price of admission. You can’t help but be in awe whenever Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman or Amy Adams open their mouths. If you’re coming to see three great actors going full-throttle – you will not be disappointed.

But there’s appreciation, and there’s being entertained. “Doubt” is not exactly an entertaining movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a boring one either, it’s just that there’s little here for those that aren’t interested in watching raw performances upon the bland backdrop of a fairly ho-hum set. If you’re here for a story, you’ll get one – just nothing that’ll sock you in the guts and have you thinking about it for hours after. If you’re here for performances, you’ll be drunk within two hours.

Set in the 60s, within the confines of a strict catholic school, the film tells of a magnetic priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who while trying to turn turtle to the school’s strict customs, has a run-in with the iron-gloved principal of the school, the terrifying Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep).

Things are changing out there – the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller, for starters – but Sister Aloyisus is not having a bar of it. And when the naïve and impressionable Sister James (Amy Adams) shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt–inducing inkling that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal mission to have the-could-be-innocent-after-all father removed from the esteemed school.

The problem with films like this date back to the source material – in the case of “Doubt” – and “Lions for Lambs” and “Sleuth” – it’s based on a play. And, for all intents and purposes, the film doesn’t play much different to the stage incarnation. With minimal sets, a play-like structure, and thunderous ‘look at me’-style performances that easily eclipse anything going on in the story, it’s another of these films that could’ve saved some bucks by merely plonking a camcorder in front of a stage and having the three leads bust out on the boards. Would probably be just as effectual. Maybe.

“Doubt” is a good film – but it’s not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination. There’s just not a lot here to chew on. It’s an interesting story, and John Patrick Shanley (his first film as director since, er, “Joe vs. the Volcano” in 1990) shows a bit of flair with his direction, but by-and-large it’s something for Streep, Hoffman and Adams to put on their sizzle reels.

One of the Oscar voting committee but not necessarily a wide audience.