Doubt

To watch Doubt is to engage in a mental game of "Who do you believe? And why?" and to watch some of the greatest actors currently working playing off of each other. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep do, at times, resort to Acting! but it comes from a very natural place. Their characters are distrustful of each other, and are quick to engage in banter, fights and explosive arguments before this movie even begins. The history of the characters, the way the actors imbue the characters with a sense of a fully lived life is remarkable. The most obvious showcase of this being Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller. She has two scenes, and is the most crucial character in the movie. She comes in from the outside world, and shows that sometimes things appear one way, but are infinitely more complex then what we think they really are. And Amy Adams holds her own, finding the perfect balance between the naive, sweet Sister James and the more complicated, sad, disturbed emotions she feels beneath the nun clothing. Did Father Flynn do it? I don't think so. What is Sister Aloysius doubting at the end? I think it could be several things. I love that this movie engages you and makes you think from the very beginning of the first frame to the last. How rare is that these days? Now that is a question worth discussion.