For a film about moral ambiguity, "Doubt" does an awful lot of hand-holding. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, a charismatic, mavericky Catholic priest, obviously is a good guy, even though he is suspected of sexually abusing the school's only black male student.
Meryl Streep, as the principal at St. Nicholas in the Bronx, obviously is the villain for her unflappable certitude and fearsome authoritarianism.
None of the above is ever in question, as writer-director John Patrick Shanley brings his Pulitzer Prize-winning play to the screen. Shanley, whose only previous directing effort was 1990's "Joe Versus the Volcano," lacks the ability as a filmmaker to wring much nuance out of his material in cinematic form.
He relies too heavily on obvious symbolism to suggest turmoil -- a torrential storm that furiously churns leaves and snaps tree branches, for example -- rather than allowing the story's innate tension to play out for itself.
Streep is just withering as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, knocking down her students and fellow nuns alike with everything from a roll of the eyes to a smack on the back of the head.
Amy Adams has some lovely small moments as the naive young nun torn between her inherent desire to believe the good in Hoffman's Father Flynn and her allegiance to the skeptical Sister Aloysius, and Viola Davis has one great scene that provides much-needed context and unexpected perspective as the mother of the boy in question.
• In wide release
Additional Information:'Doubt'
Rated PG-13, for thematic material;
(out of four)
