Ok, here’s an opinion you might not have fully expected from The Playlist. We say that because we saw “Doubt” Friday night with very little expectations and as you can tell we haven’t really written about it a lot this year. We expected it to be a stock drama that was boring, frankly, but we just wanted to check off our list of all the Oscar-bait of the season and holy shit!
We kid you not: John Patrick Shanley’s was devastatingly good. Much of this is due to its phenomenal actors, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis; and let’s reiterate, they are all incredible with Streep and Hoffman being remarkably striking. In case you’re unaware it’s about a nun (Streep) who accuses a priest (Hoffman) of abusing a black student and… well, there’s a lot of ambiguity to it all, but we don’t want to spoil it all for you.
We may have been let down by Davis ever-so slightly, but that’s only because everyone has been shouting out her name since around the early Fall. Those in the tank for this one early one deserve a hat tip, because man, they called it, “Doubt” was seriously amazing.
Let’s give it up for Shanley (“Moonstruck,” “Joe Vs. The Volcano”) who directed the film based on his own Pulitzer Prize winning stageplay too. Stage directors obviously know how to block a scene and god, the blocking and framing in the film was incredible. We feel like genuine jackasses for sleeping on this one (though Playlist contributor David Benjamin did praise the film a few weeks ago, aptly calling it an “engaging and intricate moral chess match“), or at least being only semi-interested.
We can see a large part of our audience or younger audiences thinking, “really? that film? I have no interest,” but we assure you its fantastic and we implore you to go see it, seriously. Yes, the entire cast has had voluble amounts of praise thrown on them for Oscar nominations (almost everyone will receive a nod except for perhaps Adams who is still quite good), but what about the film and director?
The Golden Globes are that much misguided for putting in “The Reader” before this in the Best Picture nominees. In fact, it’s stronger than most of the Oscar-bait this year including “Frost/Nixon.” In fact if we had to rank our favorite Oscar-Bait films of the year, they’d probably go like this (and we mean the ones with the most possible shots at that Academy Award for Best Picture.
1. Slumdog Millionaire”
2. “Revolutionary Road”
3. “Doubt”
4. “Milk”
5. Frost/Nixon (it’s oranges and apples comparing them, but ‘Road’ and ‘Doubt’ are more like neck and neck)
And while we’re at it? We’ve knocked “The Dark Knight” and all a few times, but we’d rather see it get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture before “The Reader” or “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” does. The latter will never happen of course, but that’s honestly how we feel.
Back to “Doubt,” the aforementioned Playlist review already gets into the details and plot so we’ll spare you a rehash, but we promise you, this film was excellent. And my god, Meryl Streep, wow, just wow. She is fierce in the film. When her and PSH go toe-to-toe? Man, it’s fireworks and masterclass heavyweights going at it, believe us. Do not let the subject matter of this one scare you away and do not sleep on this film. [A]
I wasn’t expecting that. Early in the year, this was high on my radar for the cast alone, but since the trailer, I’ve shoved it to the back of the closet. I’d much rather see Milk, Slumdog, Frost/Nixon, Ben Button, The Wrestler, and Revolutionary Road (yes, I hevn’t seen anything yet, it’s insane). But it’s nice to know, the film I thought might be the bore of the season (Goodnight Goodluck anyone), should be another winner.
Wow, the trailer looked so ridiculous but these reviews cannot be denied.
It’s really damn good and for straight-up dramatic Oscar bait more engaging then most. For me it’s as good as Rev Road, but I didn’t want to list a tie.