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Doubt [DVD] [2008]

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Director: John Patrick Shanley
Actors: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Category: DVD

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

24 reviews
Sales Rank: 493

Format: PAL
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region: 2
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6

EAN: 8717418200596
ASIN: B001QFZ4GI

Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: July 6, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's always a risk when writers direct their own work, since some playwrights don't travel well from stage to screen. Aided by Roger Deakins, of No Country for Old Men fame, who vividly captures the look of a blustery Bronx winter, Moonstruck's John Patrick Shanley pulls it off. If Doubt makes for a dialogue-heavy experience, like The Crucible and 12 Angry Men, the words and ideas are never dull, and a consummate cast makes each one count. Set in 1964 and loosely inspired by actual events, Shanley focuses on St. Nicholas, a Catholic primary school that has accepted its first African-American student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster), who serves as altar boy to the warm-hearted Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Donald may not have any friends, but that doesn't worry his mother, Mrs. Miller (Viola Davis in a scene-stealing performance), since her sole concern is that her son gets a good education. When Sister James (Amy Adams) notices Flynn concentrating more of his attentions on Miller than the other boys, she mentions the matter to Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the school's hard-nosed principal. Looking for any excuse to push the progressive priest out of her tradition-minded institution, Sister Aloysius sets out to destroy him, and if that means ruining Donald's future in the process--so be it. Naturally, she's the least sympathetic combatant in this battle, but Streep invests her disciplinarian with wit and unexpected flashes of empathy. Of all the characters she's played, Sister Aloysius comes closest to caricature, but she never feels like a cartoon; just a sad woman willing to do anything to hold onto what little she has before the forces of change render her--and everything she represents--redundant. --emKathleen C. Fennessy/em

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 1-5 of 24

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Gripping and thought-provoking March 10, 2009
MT (England)
32 out of 32 found this review helpful

I rarely review films and books, especially those I enjoyed, as it is usually a very personal experience, but when to my amazement I found such mixed reviews for what in my opinion is a masterpiece, I felt the need to speak out. br / br /Everyone will have their own opinion in the end, but the negative reviews of this film to date appear particularly misleading (incidentally one of them actually contains spoilers--shouldn't Amazon.co.uk filter these out?), and I feel the need to clarify a few things. br / br /You see, this is NOT a courtroom drama or a John Grisham action thriller. Some of the reviewers seem to have expected this to be the case, since the story revolves around whether a priest is guilty of a heinous crime. But what this film is actually about is what you learn in the process of his persecution by the mother superior. br / br /In "Doubt", people reveal just how far they are willing to go in pursuit of a cause they believe in. Love of God is put to test as human, almost primal urges rear their head. Parents are shown to be willing to make unspeakable compromises. And a young and naive nun learns that little is certain, except eternal doubt.

5 out of 5 stars

HAVE NO DOUBT. THIS IS A GREAT FILM February 24, 2009
Peter Hurst (wigan, england)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

John Patrick Stanley's film adaptation of his own Pulitzer Prize and Tony award winning play 'Doubt: a Parable' unfortunately did not come up with any Oscars Sunday night but still deserves accolades for it's multi-layered plot, excellent performances and thought-provoking denouement. br / br /The setting of the film at a Catholic school in a largely Irish/American Catholic neighbourhood of the Bronx in 1964 - a year after the deaths of JFK and Pope John XXXIII and the convocation of the second Vatican Council, which boldly sought a rapprochement of the Catholic church with the modern world - emphasises the central conflict of the film between:- (A) The old certainties of the past, as embodied by Meryl Streep's arch-traditionalist, stern, foreboding, ball-point pen hating nun. (B) The ever-increasing uncertainties of the present represented by Patrick Seymour Hoffman's modernist, charming and openly liberal parish priest. br / br /The story is ostensibly a sort of 'whodunnit'? (or rather 'did-he-do-it'?) in regards to allegations of innappropriate relations with children but on a deeper level probes further into the nature of faith in an ever-changing and increasingly secularised world. Is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character a sexual predator or merely a misunderstood victim? is Meryl Streep's character an overzealous gossip or true believer? there is indeed doubt. The film does not underestimate the intelligence of the audience and allows for several interpretations. Thought-provoking, engrossing and well-acted by a strong cast. A film that is well worth a watch.

5 out of 5 stars

I have no Doubts...... May 8, 2009
Ms. Grace S. Brown (UK)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

.....that this film is incredible. br / br /How Meryl Streep did not win the Oscar, I do not know. But apart from that dissapointment I cannot fault this film and its powerhouse acting, especially from the mighty Streep. Amy Adams shines in this role and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is great, although I got a bit confused as to why he felt the need to shout a lot. br / br /Keep and eye out for Streep and Adams' second film Julie Julia coming soon too.

5 out of 5 stars

It takes a cat to catch a mouse... April 4, 2009
Big Bertha (UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius Beauvier a principal at a Catholic elementary school in the early sixties. In this powerful drama she suspects the priest Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) of having an inappropriate interest in her first black student, Donald Miller who is also one of the altar boys. br / br /When Sister James (Amy Adams) a junior nun comes to her with similar concerns she feels compelled to take action. br / br /The powerful impact of this film is acted out in one on one conversations/confrontations between herself, Sister James, Father Flynn and the boys mother played by Viola Davis. br / br /It's not an action thriller, it goes deeper than that. It is a very well acted, thought provoking and powerful drama about how far Sister Beauvier was prepared to go to prevent wrong-doing even when there's doubt. There are some very moving scenes particularly the one between Sister Beauvier and the boys mother. br / br /Definately recommended. br / br /

5 out of 5 stars

I don't doubt this is a great film. February 13, 2009
Guitar Heroine (Liverpool, England.)
7 out of 11 found this review helpful

I'm a history buff, and found this film's synopsis interesting enough to make me want to watch it because it's from fairly recent history, so really easy to relate to, whether or not the storyline itself has personal meaning. It's because the things that happened are not so far removed from the world we know and understand. br / br /Although I loved this film, it didn't perhaps seem that much of a movie to me, more suited to being one of those long special edition TV dramas. This is not meant to be a criticism; I loved the film but can sort of see its lack of cinematic appeal perhaps. br / br /I found the acting, especially that of Streep, to be convincing and gripping, and I was engaged in the storyline from start to finish. It requires total concentration and it's a thought-provoking, serious piece of film-making but it's rewarding if you really watch it. br / br /It also was rather galling in placed because it was based on real life and you could all too easily imagine the situation happening for real, as it were.

Showing reviews 1-5 of 24

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