Doubt (2008) +

Upon second viewing, Doubt impresses mostly for its hermetic efficiency. Shanley has crafted a diverting bauble, a compelling hypothetical that permits its well-intentioned audience much room to rehearse its pre-existing ideas. Nothing in this film -- or I suspect the play from which it is adapted -- requires that the audience confront their prejudices and predispositions. Rather, the film instigates a gratifying kind of self-reflexivity -- a lovingly filmed scenario that permits the audience to spend time mulling over their own thoughts and convictions. This, it seems to me, is what is most surprising about the piece: it doesn't provoke, really, at all. It invites thoughtfulness, but nothing so strenuous that it might cause someone to change their minds. And most insidiously perhaps, the film actually encourages the audience toward a kind of certitude: they film/play may not say but I know for sure. Which is sorta weird, actually, to stage a piece ostensibly about doubt and yet privilege the notion that people will believe what they are inclined to believe anyway. But what the film/play/narrative truly provides is the ring, the mat, the field of battle. As I was reflecting on the film, for the purposes of Viola Davis's Supporting Actress profile, that the film's many head-to-head confrontations are like a series of arm-wrestling matches, some of which end in victory for one or the other, but all of which are incredibly captivating. It's a hoot to watch these performers play through these roles, even if the roles make little sense beyond embodying key variables in Shanley's little game of morality algebra. Notably, Streep's performance was palpably richer on second viewing. Adams's work, too, signaled easily overlooked depths in nearly every scene. Davis's work was even more impressive, for its precision and its clarity, especially -- although I found it less emotionally compelling the second time through. And while Hoffman felt less mannered this time through, I found that I was more convinced of the performance's limits this time through. What I really admired this time through though (other than the surprising vulnerability with which Streep layers each of her dragonswipes) was Shanley's homage to working class NYC culture. It's a suspect romanticization, to be sure, as it's basically what was great about NYC before white flight, but it's stylishly done here. An interesting revisit... one that I found more gratifying than I anticipated.