On the eve of the Oscars I finally saw the last highly nominated film of the season that I wanted to catch, "Doubt." I thoroughly enjoyed the acting and the story intrigued me a great deal. I would really love to see this staged. I have not read the play, but from what I have heard, it is much simpler in scope than the film. I think the film was slightly larger than the story allowed. It was stretched in ways that made it shaky. I found myself wondering why a shot was being shown more often than I would normally enjoy in a film. Nonetheless, I appreciated the story told and the acting was pretty stellar. Now, when I say I appreciated the story, that is to say I think it was compelling and actually said something. That being said, it was a real downer. Every character was horribly flawed and at times behaved horrifically out of their own noble intentions to protect the young people in their care. I found their nobly intended behaviors to be wholly disturbing. I found myself on a pendulum of disdain and respect for each of the four main characters portrayed throughout the story. Meryl Streep's character gave me the most significant turn from start to finish. Her character's complexities were hinted at, but not fully shown until late in the story. I think this served well to give me reason to swing from disdain to respect. And at the end she remains a series of contradictions. She was a nasty woman with tenderness. She was a champion of the innocent through her blind and malicious persecution. She was a pious woman of God whose faith has been stripped by the humanity around her. And she was an empowered voice that cracked with powerlessness in an unconcerned system. On the other hand, my pendulum swung in an opposite fashion for Philip Seymour Hoffman's character. Somehow he was able to maintain my respect throughout the story, but he still lost my trust. I believe this has more to do with his place in the system than whether I believe that he acted inappropriately. I do not believe he acted appropriately, but not to the extent as was asserted by Streep's character. Regardless, I was most disappointed with the male-dominated system in which he took refuge. The same system that motivates Streep's character to be the person she is. This is the commentary I take from the film. The idea that the system only tolerates our minor victories against injustice. That is a downer.
I have more to say about doubt. Perhaps more will follow someday.
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