‘Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty...’
The career of writer-director John Patrick Shanley is as curious as anyone working in Hollywood today. He has directed three films thirty years apart. The Tom Hanks comedy vehicle Joe Versus the Volcano, the powerful character study Doubt and the much derided Irish drama Wild Mountain Thyme. Three more different films you would struggle to find. As a writer, Shanley won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Moonstruck, but also penned Congo – an excretable Jurassic Park rip off that bombed upon release. And despite all this, there is absolutely no denying that Doubt is an incredible film…
Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has his integrity questioned by Sister Beauvier (Meryl Streep) – a domineering and determined nun. Meanwhile, Sister James (Amy Adams) becomes embroiled in the power struggle between the two.
To give Shanley his due, this is a genuinely brilliant screenplay. In a dialogue heavy film, there isn’t a line out of place. This is economical filmmaking at its very best. Everything is stripped away in service of the story. It helps that in Hoffman and Streep, Doubt boasts two of the greatest actors to ever grace the screen. One scene that the two heavyweights share towards the end of the film is genuinely jaw dropping in its technical ability. Two actors at the top of their craft and at the height of their powers. Truly astonishing.
Doubt is a film that presents us with two compelling characters and forces us to confront our own prejudices. This wont be comfortable viewing for everyone, particularly those connected with Christianity, but this is an important film. Powerful filmmaking. It also made me realise just how colourless Hollywood is without Hoffman. He is sorely missed.