Product Information
Celebrated playwright John Patrick Shanley adapts his own original work and directs this drama starring Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Suspicions of molestation arise at a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, with a priest (Hoffman) as the suspect, and a pair of nuns (Streep and ENCHANTED's Amy Adams) on opposite sides of the debate.Product Identifiers
ProducerMark Roybal, Scott Rudin
EAN8717418200596
eBay Product ID (ePID)72558389
Product Key Features
ActorAmy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis
Film/TV TitleDoubt
DirectorJohn Patrick Shanley
LanguageEnglish
Run Time100 Mins
Aspect Ratio16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
FormatDVD
Release Year2009
FeaturesDirector's Audio Commentary\'doubt from Stage to Screen'\'scoring Doubt'\'the Sisters of Charity', Widescreen
GenreDrama, General
Additional Product Features
Number of Discs1
Certificate15
Country/Region of ManufactureUnited States of America
ComposerHoward Shore
Production DesignerDavid Gropman
ReviewsTime Out - Tense and teasingly ambiguous, Daily Mail - A masterpiece without a doubt, New York Times - The air is thick with paranoia in Doubt, but nowhere as thick, juicy, sustained or sustaining as Meryl Streep's performance., Jonathan Ross, Film 2009 - Meryl Streep is just extraordinary, USA Today - Doubt strikes a deeper chill in our hearts than the creepiest thriller., Variety - The tension between unbending principle and the call for compassion and human understanding could scarcely be more pointedly evoked than it is here, and Davis' performance is devastatingly great..., Rolling Stone - Explosive expect fireworks! It will pin you to your seat, Film 4 - Intelligent and incisive, Doubt is a credible attempt by Shanley and his cast to adapt his play for the screen. Powered by finely tuned dialogue and performances, the result, while never explosive, is a gripping and engaging., Time Out London - Empathy is one of the dramatist's slyest weapons and Shanley uses it wisely., Rolling Stone Magazine - It'll pin you to your seat.
Additional InformationA Catholic school principal, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) tries to trick a confession out of a progressive priest (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) whom she suspects of being a paedophile in this terse drama, directed by John Patrick Shanley, based on his hit stage play, set in the mid 1960s in the wake of the Kennedy assassination. There's a feeling of dread and claustrophobia in the parochial school air: the kids can't sit still and they quake in terror of being called downstairs to face Sister Aloysius's wrath. Amy Adams is the sweet-natured sister in charge of eighth grade, who first suspects Father Flynn (Hoffman) may have seduced a withdrawn African-American boy in her class. Sister Aloysius becomes convinced of the priest's guilt, but it's hard to be certain if her judgment is obscured by the change he represents or is just the result of her hardened years of experience.<BR><BR><BR>Director of photography Roger Deakins brings a lived-in bleakness to the cold wintry Bronx settings: paint peeling off the rectory walls, bare trees reflected in frosty windows, wrinkled white linen, and old, wizened faces in the gloom of the actual location photography. This all contrasts impressively with the hothouse nature of the performances; when Hoffman and Streep finally go toe-to-toe, you can feel the gods of acting rise to attention. The real scene stealer here however is Viola Davis, shattering as the possibly victimised boy's hard-working mother. She even leaves Streep at a standstill, and that's saying something.
ScreenwriterJohn Patrick Shanley
Costume DesignerAnn Roth
AuthorJohn Patrick Shanley
Sound sourceDolby Digital
Movie/TV TitleDoubt
EditorDylan Tichenor
Director of PhotographyRoger Deakins
Consumer AdviceContains theme of implied child sexual abuse