Mini Review - 'Doubt'

I can imagine this being an extremely great stage play. With the crackling dialogue, moral ambiguity and small cast, I can see it being theater of the highest calibre.
As a movie it is merely just quite good.
Perhaps it is the subject matter, a nun starts a witch hunt against a priest she 'suspects' is a pedophile (is this some sort of Iraq war allegory?) that seems better suited for the stage?
Or perhaps seeing a performance up close on the big screen leaves less speculation as to the characters motivations.
There has been so much talk as to whether Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) did molest the boy or didn't, as if it was open ended.
I saw it plain as day.
He has, maybe not this boy, but he has.
Hoffman is more charming that he has been in other roles, and he handles his scenes with Streep admirably, however it is not a performance that lingers.
What you do remember is the women of 'Doubt'.
Adams has the difficult task of bringing a very dull and innocent character to life, and she does a fantastic job. Her need to see the good in people is clouded by her own instincts. Instincts she cannot even muster to acknowledge until something she sees brings it to the surface. It is a quiet but captivating performance.
Streep is, well, she is Streep. At first you are un-nerved by the performance. There are certain Streepisms on display (the way she pauses for dramatic/comedic effect) but early on you see the humanity beneath the hardness. She plays Sister Aloysius with conviction. Emotions come out as anger and rage when her matter-a-fact mask begins to crack. By the end of the film, when her humanity spills forth it is not a shock, or a surprise. It is something we all saw coming from the very beginning, even if she didn't.
I will leave the greatest praise till last.
Viola Davis has said she cannot understand her character's motivation. You would never guess it by how she handles it. Mrs Miller is a woman who loves her child. She has to make tough and soul destroying decisions based on her child's well being and future. In an all too short scene David paints a stunningly dramatic picture of a woman, and everything she has experienced up until this moment. As a viewer you are taken aback, not because of the acting, but because of sucker punch she delivers. Can a mother turn her eye on one horrible act happening to her child, so that a second and possibly worse one can be prevented? It is amazing acting, and deserving of all the year end kudos bestowed upon her.

As the hours distance myself from the film, the impact of the story has faded greatly (although the ambiguity keeps you thinking), but the power of the performances still knock the wind out of me.

Grade: B+