Doubt (2008) ****

Doubt is one of those films that you watch for the great performances and not for the story or the plot, which tends to drag a little bit. It's the story of a small Catholic parish in the Bronx led by Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman). I have to use the term led very loosely because the real boss of the parish and the school seems to be Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the principal of the parochial school and overall bitch on wheels. The sister is old school, fire and brimstone churching while the young father is more progressive. Caught in the middle is Sister James (Amy Adams) who sees Sister Aloysius' doctrines almost as if they came from God himself, yet tends to lean to the progressive nature of Father Flynn. This constant struggle boils over in the possibility that the Father has entered into a "relationship" with one of the male students.

Watching Doubt you can tell that it adapted from a stage play. I would have to say that it is probably the best adaptation of a stage play since Glengarry Geln Ross, that masterpiece with the acting equivalent of the 1927 New York Yankees. This film boats the same kind of cast with Streep and Hoffman absolutley brilliant in their portrayals and their conflicts. Once again they become these characters and you forget who you're watching- it's the priest and the nun accusing each other of various things. Amy Adams breaks out as Sister James, the timid little teacher who is easily led throughout the film until the end.

The only real problem with the film is that its source material tends to be a little off. Honestly, it's a who done it disguised as a stage drama. You see where this thing is going after the opening credits in the writers attempt to give another telling on a controversial issue. The entire film is one question: "Did he do it?", except in the mind of Streeps character who is obsessed with getting him to admit what she already "knows" happened.

The thing about Doubt is that it is almost Hitchcockian in its moral conflict. Is it the wrong man? Is the bad guy really good and the good guy really bad. It tends to throw these moral dilemmas down with Sister James playing what the viewer feels- pure anxiety. This is why the acting in Doubt is so great and raises what would have been an average Lifetime movie into a good film.