I'm not going to give a long or exhaustive review. A bazillion others have and the movie was released over a year ago--so my giving any sort of in-depth analysis is just needless repetition.

The movie's biggest strength is the acting. All three leading actors did a fine job and this was necessary to carry a film that has no special effects, explosions or love scenes. The vagueness of the film is also a strength. After all, the film gets you thinking and yet there is definitely no clear-cut answer as to what really occurred in the film. There is lots of room to foster discussions and debate. And, while I am a strongly opinionated person, I wouldn't have changed much of the film at all--except the very, very end when Meryl Streep's character, for the first and only time, shows some doubt and emotion. This just didn't seem true to her character. Still, this is a minor concern--and who am I to say, since I didn't win the Pulitzer Prize (last time I checked)! Some may hate the vagueness and want a very clear explanation as to what, exactly, the Father did--if anything. Some may hate that the film actually isn't vague enough (I slightly tend towards that). But what I love about all this is that so many different people see so many different things--mostly based on their own prior experiences and expectations. I could easily see someone seeing gay issues, pedophilia (and it's talked ABOUT but never even explicitly said) or a thousand other possibilities--or it could simply be a metaphor for McCarthyism. Who knows? And that makes the film so interesting.

From the second I started watching Doubt I was put in mind of The Bells Of St. Mary's where Father O'Malley and Sister Benedict differ over educational policy at St. Mary's school. There was a definite rivalry going there between Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman when Crosby is sent to Bergman's school. But where as those two made beautiful music together in the end, no way will that happen at St. Nicholas School in the Bronx circa 1964.

Where the head nun rules with an iron hand and a moral certainty that is frightening to both us the audience and to the rest of the staff. Meryl Streep got one of her many Oscar nominations for this role and I was completely blown away by her performance. She is totally immersed in her character as the tyrannical reverend mother oblivious to outside changes in the world and jealous of her position as dictator of St. Nicholas. Even the very best of players bring something of themselves to the part, they're never 100% in the character. Streep very much is in the character here and in other of her work to a degree I've only seen with one other player, Paul Muni.

This is 1964 and St. Nicholas has accepted a black pupil young Joseph Foster and a priest played by Philip Seymour Hoffman is also there to update and bring some policy changes from the real world. This Streep finds intolerable and she goes on a crusade to rid herself of Hoffman by whatever means.

Her means is when a sweet young new nun Amy Adams tells her she thinks that Hoffman is showing too much interest in young Miller. Remember in 1964 the priesthood and the nunnery was a refuge for closeted gay people who could have a convenient explanation for why they were not married and raising kids. These sexually frustrated people made the Catholic church and the policies it has. Streep is well aware of this and pursues her vendetta with a frightening gusto.

As for Hoffman, he may or may not be gay, but if he were gay he knows what the world was like before taking vows. And he knows change is coming and that little refuge in the Bronx that is St. Nicholas School has to be ready for it. Integrating the school and taking an interest academically in young Foster is part of it. But what if it is more than that.

It frighteningly is. When Streep with nothing but rumor to back her up brings it to Foster's mother Viola Davis, she gets an unexpected curve. Davis doesn't want to do anything, just let it all slide after all she just needs to see her son graduate in June.

When Streep questions her reasoning and motives, Davis says she thinks she has a gay son and when he showed that he might, his father whom we never see beats him regularly for it. The priest's interest even if it was touched with carnality is better than what he's got at home. And in fact with the stricter discipline in the parochial school, she's reasoned he has less of a chance of being bullied.

I was completely blown away by Davis's role and performance. She's a mother first and not left with a lot of good choices. Foster was bullied in public school and 48 years ago there was no place in the world of acceptance for him. She's thinking that if he gets through he can get into a decent high school and leave a frightening childhood. Davis and Adams both were up for Supporting Actress and I give the edge to Davis who might have won if Adams weren't in the same film.

Bullying is such a hot button topic today that Doubt is one of the timeliest films I've seen recently. It demonstrates that we can thank God there are now places in an organized LGBT community in many of our largest municipal areas that our kids can go for safe space and acceptance. Some better choices are out there for the Joseph Fosters of the world.

The final confrontation climax with Streep and Hoffman is something you will rarely see, two of the very best going head to head. I can only compare it to Spencer Tracy and Fredric March in Inherit The Wind. Hoffman got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for this and it was well deserved.

This review is dedicated to a couple of places that operate today for the Joseph Fosters of the world that in 1964 not only did not exist, but were inconceivable then. I speak of the Hetrick-Martin Institute in New York City and the Gay Lesbian Youth Services of Buffalo. What an incredibly different world we live in than when I and the young man young Mr. Foster plays grew up in.

It's 1964 the Bronx. Catholic priest Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) gives a sermon on doubt. Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) is the strict principal of the school. Sister James (Amy Adams) is a young naive teacher. Donald Miller is the first black student at the school. Beauvier is concerned about Flynn and his sermon. James observes the closeness between Flynn and Donald and shares it with Beauvier. Beauvier sets off to uncover the relationship and sends Flynn out of the school. There is no definitive proof but there is also no relent in Sister Beauvier.

It's a laborious start. I almost want Sister Beauvier to break a case at the start like Nancy Drew. If she has doubts, then the audience can't help but have doubts themselves. That's the point of the movie. The audience is never sure. The three leads are terrific but the material doesn't always have the tension. Viola Davis also throws in a great scene. Their performances make this a good movie.