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Doubt, as the title implies, is not a film that provides definite answers. Set in 1964 in a New York religious school, it focuses on the suspicions of the head nun, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), that the parish priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), has made unsavoury sexual advances on a young black boy. Neither Sister Aloysius nor the audience are ever given any solid evidence that anything untoward has occurred; it's just a battle of words and beliefs between the Sister and Father Flynn (who swears he's innocent). Such a lack of certainty sustained throughout the film could have made for a rather frustrating experience, but writer-director John Patrick Shanley skilfully avoids that potential problem, instead crafting an absorbingly ambiguous character study.
He's helped, of course, by his quality cast. Streep has for years now been probably the most consistent and watchable actress in American films, and Doubt supplies her with a wonderfully meaty role to get to grips with; the sort that doesn't come along very often for middle-aged actresses. Sometimes Streep can be accused of coasting, but not here (at any rate, she's not allowed to by the taut script). Hoffman is also superb, making the battle of wills between these two characters absolutely compelling. Taking the inadvertent position of mediator between these two acting powerhouses is Amy Adams as Sister James, the innocent young nun who is the first to voice concerns about Father Flynn to her superior, but doesn't truly suspect him of doing anything untoward. In a part that had originally been offered to Natalie Portman, Adams is perfect, combining just the right amount of naiveté and intelligence.
Shanley does add the occasional melodramatic touch - skewed camera angles, ominously rustling leaves, and so on - that do over-egg the pudding a little. These tactics are perhaps an effort to distance the film from the original stage play (also written by Shanley) but are simply unnecessary. Thankfully, the director only uses these devices sparingly, and before long we're thrust into another of the volatile dialogue exchanges which really give the actors chance to earn their salaries. Doubt is more than just an acting showcase, though; it's a gripping narrative told with confidence by a relatively inexperienced film director (his only other behind-the-camera effort was the 1990 Tom Hanks romcom Joe Versus the Volcano). It's a sign of the film's quality that when it ends after a mere 104 minutes, the first feeling is disappointment that it has ended so soon.
The summary
Powered by heavyweight acting performances, Doubt is a compelling, ambiguous drama that stays with you well after the last scene fades out.
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