The Doubt Movie
The Doubt Movie
#1The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/20/13 at 10:15pm
I just finished watching it for the fourth or fifth time and I love it so much. Every time I watch it I have a different opinion on whether or not he did it. This time I say most definitely guilty.
Am I in the minority for loving it? I never saw the Broadway production.
I know you.
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I know you.
#2The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/20/13 at 10:26pm
I saw the movie in DOUBT about 3 or 4 hours before I saw the last revival of GUYS AND DOLLS with a friend of mine. At intermission (of GUYS AND DOLLS, of course), I turned to my friend and said, "I never thought I'd say this, but I had a better time at DOUBT."
I think it's a perfectly good movie and remember enjoying it. I don't think I've seen it since-- maybe for a few minutes on TV flipping through channels. I think the work itself is better onstage, but it's a good movie.
#2The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/20/13 at 10:38pmI think it's an ok two-star movie. Hoffman (as always) was awful and Streep was miscast but the script is still strong and kept it from being totally unwatchable.
#3The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/20/13 at 10:43pm
I thought Hoffman was miscast. I have liked him in many things (particularly his work with Paul Thomas Anderson), but he was the "wrong link." Streep, however, I enjoyed.
I think it works better on the stage because it feels more claustrophobic that way. There's more tension.
TalkinLoud
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/3/09
#5The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/20/13 at 10:45pm
I loved the play but enjoyed the movie more.
The cinematography by Roger Deakins was quite powerful.
Updated On: 10/20/13 at 10:45 PM
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#6The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/20/13 at 10:45pmI liked it. The play was stronger, as is usually the case with stage to film adaptations, but the movie is a perfectly respectable, nicely-done adaptation. The quartet of mesmerizing performances from Streep, Hoffman, Adams, and particularly Davis were a major component to its success for me. Again, the performances in the stage version were better, but those four were just about as great as one could have hoped. The direction is pretty heavy-handed at times, in my opinion, getting way too ominous and foreboding here and there. But, it's a pretty solid movie altogether. I watched a bit of it on one of the movie channels the other night and it seems to have held up pretty well.
AwesomeDanny
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/30/09
#7The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/20/13 at 11:56pmI thought it was fine but not outstanding. The material held up well, but the only actor who really stood out was Viola Davis. I hated the pieces that weren't in the play because I think the play is stronger the less we know about what actually happens. Watching the film made it clear that the piece was written for the theatre. It works fine on film, but the piece can only reach its true potential on stage.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#8The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 12:28am
I liked the Broadway production but didn't like the movie.
Considering how good the material was, I think Streep was awful. To me she was very one note. Not much character there.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was miscast. He has the stereotypical look of a perv. We're supposed to have doubts about what's going on not think he's a perv from the minute he comes on screen.
The direction was way too broad for such a subtle work. Leaves blowing at Streep? Really? Why didn't you just hang a neon sign up that said "The winds have changed and there's going to be trouble for you."
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#9The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 1:04am
On stage, the material set fire to the Walter Kerr Theatre. I saw the original Broadway cast twice, and each time I was left speechless. Cherry Jones was dynamite, and she was supported by an outstanding cast of actors. The first time I saw the play, I was convinced the priest was guilty. The second time, I thought Sister Aloysius was a crazy old bat with an axe to grind. In other words -- I had the perfect experience each time.
Having said that, the film was atrocious. Meryl Streep was in an entirely different movie from the rest of the cast, and downright awful. She is also the reason why I am not jazzed about August: Osage County, a role any other actress from that generation would have been better suited for. Hoffman's so called "genius" at his craft has always eluded me. And let's get serious. No one looks at that man and thinks he could NOT be guilty. Viola Davis stole the movie right out from under her A-list cast mates with only minutes of screen time. Not to downplay her efforts, which were wonderful, but it wasn't anything Adriane Lenox had not done on stage, resulting in a richly deserved Tony.
This is one of the films I cite as an example as to why writers should not direct their own pieces. Shanley's direction was nearly the worst thing about the film, had Meryl not been such a cartoon. With a better director and cast, this film could have been fantastic. But the direction, coupled with the performances, and the stakes never seeming high enough in the adaptation left the film feeling like a dud to this viewer.
For what it's worth: Judi Dench would have KILLED this role.
#10The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 1:49am
Judi Dench would have been interesting, but don't think she'd be the first person to come to mind. People here often suggested Sissy Spaceck, and really, I think she'd have been perfect. Diane Keaton, playing against type, would also have offered an interesting, more subtle reading. I loved it at the time it came out, but the more I see it, the more I realize John Patrick Shanley was a terrible director of his material. He is just not a filmmaker, he has no idea how to make something visually interesting, and he had no idea how to work with his actors. Streep had semblances of an intriguing performance that needed to be toned down by her director; instead, he just let her do whatever she wanted. He cast Philip Seymour Hoffman, who had no business being in this film, he was so miscast; Matt Damon or Dennis Quaid, would have nailed the role.
I thought the best performances came from Viola Davis and Amy Adams. Davis' excellence in the film has been spoken about a lot, but I feel people underrated Amy Adams' surprising, and quite subtle turn in this movie. I thought she was gonna be very expected and obvious, but I thought her acting choices throughout were surprising. Overall, the movie is filled with unrealized potential, but some parts really work.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#11The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 1:52amGod, I'd love to see Keaton's take on the role. Updated On: 10/21/13 at 01:52 AM
#12The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 2:14amI loved both the play and the film. Cherry Jones was absolutely incredible, and I thought Meryl Streep was as well. Doubt is one of my favorite plays.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#13The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 8:38am
So..is the Priest guilty or not? Did he do it? I know the director wants to leave it up for the audience to decide, but what do you guys think?
So Lauren Bacall me, anything goes! *wink*
Updated On: 10/21/13 at 08:38 AM
#14The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 9:19amIt was Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the lead pipe.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#15The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 9:35am
Never saw it on stage. Liked the movie and thought the four main actors all had fine moments, especially Adams and Davis. Streep's performance was uneven for me but the moment when she and Adams are face to face with Hoffman across the desk was extraordinarily good for all of them.
As to his guilt, and the more global theme of faith, I was in doubt. Which is what the work is about, no?
#16The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 9:54am
I was more fascinated by the idea that had the abuse within the Catholic Church not been a global scandal, the character of Sister Aloysius, from the audience's point of view, would have appeared completely off the reservation. The doubt that stems from the piece is from our knowledge of what the Church has become a symbol of over the past decade.
Just to digress a bit, it's absurd to call a Meryl Streep performance "downright awful" or "terrible". She's not Kristin Stewart, she's Meryl f'ing Streep. I can understand not feeling a certain performance or thinking she was miscast, but the woman has never given an "awful" or "terrible" performance in her life. I must channel Cam from Modern Family... "Meryl Streep could play Batman and be the right choice..."
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
#17The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 10:04am
The movie was a disappointment, compared to the stage show. The gravity and the intensity were both lessened, largely due to the casting (or miscasting).
If I could cast anybody i wanted to right now, I would cast Cherry Jones (unmatchable) and Bradley Cooper. Amy Adams was fine, but she could also be replaced with someone like Jessica Chastain or Emma Stone.
The only person I wouldn't recast is Viola Davis. At least she was every bit as strong as Adriane Lenox.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
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#18The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 11:16am
Never saw it on stage, but I liked the film Doubt very much. I thought the casting was just right. I'm a Streep fan, of course, and I think Hoffman is good whatever he does.
Each time I see the film, I have a different opinion about his guilt, also!
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
#19The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 11:21am
So..is the Priest guilty or not? Did he do it? I know the director wants to leave it up for the audience to decide, but what do you guys think?
As an ex-Catholic and product of Catholic schooling, there is no question in my mind. He is guilty guilty guilty.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#20The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 12:00pmThat's why the script itself is so great. When I first saw it with the OBC, I thought O'Byrne was absolutely guilty. There was no doubt in my mind. When I saw the replacement cast with Ron Eldard (who was just amazing), I had no doubt in my mind he was innocent. And when I saw it with Hoffman, I had no idea and honestly didn't care since he annoys me so much anyways.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#21The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 12:14pm
I thought the film was so heavy-handed and Meryl's performance so over the top, that I felt like the priest didn't do it on principle. But I have such doubt, boohoohoohoo.
Updated On: 10/21/13 at 12:14 PM
#23The Doubt Movie
Posted: 10/21/13 at 12:23pmBesty, Bradley Cooper is inspired! I'm not really sure how you could watch Philip Seymour Hoffman, specifically in this particular version and feel he might be innocent. It's not so much the script, but the visual cues Shanley provides (and the casting of Hoffman himself), are so apparent! And he also makes the huge mistake of showing the interactions between Hoffman and the kid. I get he is trying to make us question ourselves, but there were so little grey areas in the movie, everything seemed so black/white. Shanley basically worked against his script.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
