Doubt - Review

Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, the film opens with Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) giving a sermon on the nature of doubt. That evening, Sister Aloysius, the head of the Catholic school discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns.

She asks if any of them have seen any weird behavior in the school to give Father Flynn ideas about doubt, and asks that they keep watch for such behavior.

Sister James, a young and naive teacher, observes the bond between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school's only black student and altar boy. One day , Sister James receives a call in her class asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the chapel. When he returns, Donald is frantic and Sister James smells alchohol on his breath. Later, while her students were learning to dance, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald's locker. On guard following her warning about unusual behavior from Sister Aloysius, Sister James reveals her thoughts to Sister Aloysius.

Under the pretext of discussing problems with the school's Christmas play, Sisters Aloysius and James confront Father Flynn with their suspicions that his relationship with Donald may be a sexual one. Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as it was a private issue between the boy and himself. Finally, he tells the Sisters that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine and that he had agreed to help the boy and allow him to remain an altar boy provided that no one else knew. Having forced him to reveal the truth, Father Flynn tells the nuns that he is disappointed in the way they handled this and that he will now have to expel Donald.

Initially, Sister James is convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius' belief that he has behaved inappropriately with the boy is true. Sister James later confronts Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald's locker, having not revealed this to Sister Aloysius. They talk about his relationship with the boy, and Sister James' doubts now are more apperent.

Sister Aloysius calls a meeting with Donald mother and reveals her suspicions. Mrs. Miller surprises Sister Aloysius by stating that she should not take the matter further and that he only has to last until the end of the school year before he goes on to attend high school. Mrs. Miller believes her son to be gay and in order to protect him from his abusive father, she asks that the matter not be pursued further.

At the film's climax, Sister Aloysius again confronts Father Flynn and despite having no evidence and no support from Donald Miller's mother, she demands that Father Flynn tell her the truth. Father Flynn repeats that there is no inappropriate relationship between himself and the boy, but Sister Aloysius says she knows that he has a history of problems having moved to three different parishes in five years.

She states that she has contacted a nun at one of Father Flynn's prior churches who corroborates her doubt. Father Flynn is furious that she has gone outside the chain of command by contacting a nun rather than the church's priest. Sister Aloysius demands that he resign, and unable to stand up to her, he relents.

Following his final sermon, Sisters Aloysius and James sit together in the church garden. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that although Father Flynn has left, he has been given a promotion in the church hierarchy and is now headmaster of a more prestigious Catholic school.

Sister Aloysius goes on to reveal that she lied about speaking to a nun at Father Flynn's former church, and repeats a line from earlier in the film that "when you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God," but adds that there is a price. Aloysius breaks down in tears and says to Sister James "I have such doubts."

This movie was OK, It had a great storyline, but it sort of let itself down. Its like going to Hobart, or Munich, Everything's great, the people are nice, but when you come back, it's not like your thinking "Gee, I wish I was still there."

This movie just did exactly that for me so I gave it 2 and a half stars.