Doubt (2008)
Directed by John Patrick Shanley
In 1964 Bronx, two Catholic school nuns question the new priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled African-American student.
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What critics compared Doubt to
Strong performances and tight visual construction disguise the fact we’ve seen this all before, from films that explore very similar themes (notably 2008’s Doubt, a more compelling and nuanced work) to films that share degrees of familiarity related to the persecution of innocent people including We Need to Talk About Kevin (2008), The Insider (1999) and Evil Angels (1988).
In John Patrick Shanley's marvellous 2008 film Doubt , we are never absolutely certain whether Philip Seymour Hoffman's popular, humane New York priest is a paedophile or Meryl Streep's vindictive nun is merely motivated by envy.
John Patrick Shanley is the Oscar-winning screenwriter of 1987's "Moonstruck" who was last heard from, movie-wise, when his 1990 directorial debut, "Joe Versus the Volcano," flopped so badly it seemed to slam the door forever on his promising career.
Whether in his best work (the Oscar-winning script to “Moonstruck,” Broadway’s “Four Dogs and a Bone”), his worst (the stage stinker “Psychopathia Sexualis”), and even interesting curios like 1990’s Tom Hanks lark “Joe Versus the Volcano,” the playwright/ screenwriter does a lot with one idea.
Though Shanley has been a successful writer for both stage and screen (he won an Oscar for "Moonstruck"), this is only the second film he has directed -- and the first was 18 years ago.
In 1987, there was "Moonstruck," which featured a widowed bookkeeper (Cher) caught between two men - safe and reliable versus tumultuous and passionate.
From thence forward, it's only nominally Shanley's (Moonstruck, Five Corners) semi-autobiographical memoir of the terrors of churchly education — the movie totally belongs to Streep.
She's at the centre, but the fine supports bolster the narrative, with Viola Davis (Doubt) the stand-out as Liz's best buddy, Delia.
She's already been told that having a child is like 'getting a tattoo on your face' by publisher friend Delia (Viola Davis, "Doubt").
He’s made a handful of movies — he was note-perfect in his debut in a single remorseful scene with Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole, hitting a walk-off the way Viola Davis did in her one big scene in Doubt.
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In addition to Butler and the Oscar-winning Foxx, it is astonishing to note that this junk also attracted the Oscar-nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) in a small role as the mayor, Bruce McGill ("The Legend of Bagger Vance," "W.”) as the D.A., Colm Meaney (“The Damned United”) as Detective Dunnigan and “24’s” deliciously evil President Logan (Gregory Itzin) as the prison warden.
Talented actors like Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, and Viola Davis (so powerful in last year's "Doubt") are reduced to serving as cinematic fillers.
In fact, I can think of at least three people in “Law Abiding Citizen” who would have given more interesting performances: Foxx; Colm Meaney, who plays an assistant to Foxx; and Viola Davis from “Doubt,” who plays the entertainingly crabby mayor of Philadelphia.
Viola Davis ("Doubt") makes the biggest impression in the supporting role of the mayor of Philadelphia.
Viola Davis (2008's " Doubt ") exudes power and an underlying sense of unease as the Philadelphia mayor, a woman none too appreciative of her loss of control over her city.
A collection of first-rate actors in subsidiary roles includes Paul Dano as a shaggy science nerd, the superb Viola Davis (Doubt) as a federal intelligence chief, Marc Blucas as June’s slightly dim old beau, and Peter Sarsgaard as Roy’s pursuer.
Because she is played by Viola Davis, a matchless purveyor of moral determination, you can’t help recalling the sequence, in “Doubt” (2008), when Davis went head to head with Meryl Streep over the future prospects of another young man.