Harry has no doubt about DOUBT! Published at: Dec. 28, 2008, 5 a.m. CST by headgeek

I thought I had this film figured out from the trailers, but thankfully - John Patrick Shanley's DOUBT is far more intricate than a 2 minute trailer. Not as many films are these days, but this one is. From the trailer, I thought this film was about an over-bearing bitch of a nun, played by Meryl Streep, accusing a nice lenient and thoughtful Father, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, of being a child buggerer wrongfully. There is that thread in the film, only it is no where near as cut and dried as that - and every character in the film is so well written, performed and captured that what actually did take place over the running time of the film can be discussed from many points of view. The most stunning performance in the film is by Viola Davis as the mother of the child that it is alleged that Father Brendan Flynn was improper with. Probably the first thing you need to know is that this film isn't set in the here and now, but in the wake of John F Kennedy's assassination. Viola isn't a modern African-American woman, but a black lady of the early sixties - in a very unfriendly world for people of her color. When Meryl Streep's Sister Aloysius reaches out to her to let her know what she suspects... You would think there could be only one reaction - the greatness of Viola's performance is how she could convince the audience of another reaction - that I just was not mentally prepared for. It's more than in the writing of that reaction, Viola steals the entire movie with this scene - and it's such a brief sequence in the film that you hesitate to even suggest it for a supporting actress nomination - except that's exactly what her performance demands. I also loved Amy Adams' Sister James. Amy is really shaping up to be quite a strong actress. Ever since she blew me away with ENCHANTED last year, I've been checking out everything she's done and she never fails to surprise me. Here she plays a nun after the heart of Julie Andrews... only Sister Maria had to just deal with Nazis, not the suspicion of altar boy sex with the Father. Here she goes from innocent to suspicious to relieved to a much more complicated setting. This isn't a Whodunit mystery, so much as a film about rumors and suggestions. Sister Aloysius' clever ruse that she believes seals Father Brendan's fate... well, I don't know if its as cut and dried as all that. I absolutely do not believe Father Brendan had improper contact with the boy in question, but I do believe he had some manner of scandal in his life prior to this station and he did not want it brought out into the open. BUT I COULD BE WRONG. And that's the delight of this movie. There is no rock solid evidence. No teary confessions, only innuendo and supposition. Of course I sympathized with Hoffman's character - as there was a point in my life where I caught a ranch hand on my mother's ranch stealing tools and guns, and had to go to school. By the time I returned from school, the ranch hand told my mother that he saw me molest my sister - and my mother being an alcoholic emotional wreck, had the ranchhands beat me with riding crops till my back bled while being forced into brutal manual labor with a post-hole digger. The next day I told her what had happened, the ranch hand in question had left and she discovered that I was telling the truth (as many of her guns had in fact been stolen and tools taken) and I was proved innocent. BUT that doesn't take away the rather terrifying experience that the mere whisper of wrongdoing did and the harsh memories that I will always carry from that experience. This story will resonate with anyone that has been a victim of rumor or gossip and the performances throughout this drama will capture you.