John Patrick Shanley's Doubt left me less moved than querulously dissatisfied despite the impressive performances of Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis in all the key roles.
Comment
12/31/08
Doubt (2008)
68
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:26
Rotten:12
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Doubt succeeds on the strength of its top-notch cast, who successfully guide the film through the occasional narrative lull.
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 12, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $33,422,556
Synopsis: John Patrick Shanley brings his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play to the screen as a gripping story about the quest for truth, the forces of change, and the devastating consequences of... [More]
Starring: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Director: John Patrick Shanley
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Reviews for Doubt
Top CriticJohn Patrick Shanley the writer should never again hire John Patrick Shanley the director.
12/24/08
Top CriticDoubt asks hard questions, and we dutifully squirm in reply.
12/19/08
Top CriticWhile the Streep-Hoffman death match is the film's dramatic high point, its success lies in its defiant refusal to trot out even a slightly satisfying answer to the question: Did he or didn't he?
12/19/08
Top CriticFor all its high-caliber performances, its cutting dissection of the roles of men and women within the Catholic hierarchy, and its timely resonance in the wake of the church's sexual abuse scandals, there's something pat and tidy about Doubt.
12/19/08
Top CriticIn the midst of a cast that should have wowed more, in the midst of a film that could have rattled more, Davis' sorrow upends all.
12/19/08
Top CriticDoubt is a missed opportunity, all the way through to its final scene, which isn't nearly the statement it might have been.
12/19/08
Top CriticWorth seeing.
12/15/08
Top CriticIt is one of those plays that I think should have stay on the stage.
12/15/08
Top CriticJohn Patrick Shanley’s film of his every-award-under-God-winning play Doubt is a heavy slab of dramaturgy, dark-toned and somber, yet intense as hell.
12/15/08
Top CriticDoubt still creaks a bit of the stage, displaying the kind of tidy narrative geometry that's easier to pull off in the acknowledged artifice of live theater than in the feigned intimacy of cinema.
12/12/08
Top CriticThe movie is a mystery tour of human motives, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of being sure.
12/12/08
Top CriticA taut, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse drives the absorbing psychological thriller Doubt.
12/12/08
Top CriticDoubt strikes a deeper chill in our hearts than the creepiest thriller.
12/12/08
Top CriticEvery element of Doubt is in perfect balance.
12/12/08
Top CriticDoubt is a commendable rendering of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama.
12/12/08
Top CriticCrammed with great performances and authentic period detail (you can almost smell the cafeteria food and the mimeograph ink), it's a fine adaptation of a provocative play. Shanley should feel proud of himself.
12/12/08
Top CriticMeryl Streep is frighteningly good as Sister Aloysius, the fire-breathing principal of a 1964 Bronx parochial school in John Patrick Shanley's powerful but stagy Doubt.
12/12/08
Top CriticShanley paints a shaded picture where even a final, spontaneous act of contrition contains multitudes of meaning.
12/12/08
Top CriticAs a consideration of faith and propriety, the movie never managed to boil my blood or break my heart.
12/12/08
Top CriticLatest News for Doubt
May 25, 2009:
If Shanley is condemning any rush to judgment, why is the deck so solidly stacked, not just against Streep's shrew, but all the women? Not to mention dismissing priest pedophilia as a conspiracy theory by mean nuns, considering the alarming public record. 
More...
April 06, 2009:
RT on DVD: Bedtime Stories, Yes Man, Doubt Hit Shelves
This week's new releases include a few Hollywood takes on science fiction (Fox's remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still; the 1984 sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact on... More...
January 14, 2009:
Oprah Sought Viola Davis' Role in Doubt
Eager to share a screen with Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey approached "Doubt" director John Patrick Shanley about a role in the film -- but, as Winfrey recently told a surprised... More...
January 08, 2009:
Broadcast Film Critics Name Critics' Choice Winners
The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were given on January 8, 2009, to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking. A list of nominees follows below, with winners in bold: More...
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