Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.

Doubt

(2008)

The stage origins are never less than obvious (it's basically a three-hander), but John Patrick Shanley (both as playwright and adaptor/director) makes this a positive by ensuring that the actors are front and centre throughout.

The themes here are very much schematised (and held up to view as such in sermons that punctuate the story) but it's the power of the performances that really bring home the dissertations on conviction of the heart versus turning personal predilections into malicious accusations (and for the audience the frustration of ambiguity versus certainty).

Streep's always good, but Amy Adams (since I was not that familiar with her work) and Seymour Hoffman really shine here. The latter's performance is outstanding, nudging the turns of sympathy and viewpoint of the film more than the other contributors (although at various points we look to each person involved for what to think and feel, and Shanley’s intention is that we come away uncertain).

***1/2

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