Doubt

This film is extraordinary and you must see it. The intense drama is like nothing I have seen in a film before...but that could be because it was adapted from a play. The theme of the movie is AMBIGUITY, and that can be so unsatisfying in a film! The depth and complexity of the conversation, which turns into a moral war, between Meryl Streep as the head nun and principal of the Catholic school in 196os New York City, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the head priest is stunning...it will keep you riveted to your chair. Two of my favorite actors playing very un-sexy roles, and doing it beautifully. The film conveys a 21st century critique of the gender roles of this mid-century battle, which I thoroughly appreciated.

Here's Manohla Dargis, film critic from the New York Times: "Despite its theological asides and weighty moral stakes, “Doubt” essentially boils down to a shell game: you think you see the pea under this or that shell, but the prize (answer) remains tauntingly out of reach. So does Father Flynn, a character who for a long stretch appears above reproach: a good, caring, forward-thinking man whose only crime seems to be tolerance. When he suggests that the school add a secular song to its Christmas lineup as a way of reaching out to the community, Sister Aloysius reacts as if he had suggested human sacrifice instead. That he seems to embody the spirit of reform handed down by Second Vatican Council, which ended in 1965, makes him all the more sympathetic." By the time Meryl is done with him, you're not so sure he is a sympathetic character any longer...especially with all the bad-priest news that we have been inundated with for the past 5 years.

Viola Davis and Amy Adams are spectacular as supporting actors. This would be my choice for Best Picture of the Year.