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5 stars*****

The play, Doubt: A Parable, was a great success running for 550 shows and travelling around the world, so it was no surprise when the play was transformed into a movie.

Doubt, the movie, has been adapted for the big screen by John Patrick Shanley, the writer of the original play. It should be not be a revelation that the play that won numerous awards has now become such a hit movie of the highest quality, that all four lead actors were nominated for an Academy award™ as well as the screenplay writer. There’s a fine line between winning and being in the top five. You can’t get a hairline crack between the winners and these five.

This version looks like a play especially during the long scenes which is unusual for a movie. However, it is interjected by marvelous shots from around the school grounds where the movie is set.

Writer John Patrick Shanley even gets to direct the movie which is a rare reward these days for any writer, screenplay or playwright and he does a first-rate job looking like he does this every day of the week.

Actors Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman , Amy Adams and Viola Davies are superb in showing four distinctly different characters moulding together. We didn’t for one moment expect Meryl Streep to jump up and start singing The Winner Takes It All or Mamma Mia such was the quality of the acting that we instantly put aside her other recent success.

It is essential that the makeup department also gets the nod for the wonderful work on Meryl Streep who looks as though she has no makeup at all, befitting a nun at her Catholic school.

At 104 minutes the movie is hardly any longer than the play, the extra few minutes were purely the filling shots as the play was adapted almost 100% to the movie.

This movie tackles some very difficult drastic church related situations and left us with an Agatha Christie whodunnit, did he or didn’t he? Unusually it would appear that the writer was able to keep his own choice of name for the movie as I’m sure that if the marketing people had been in charge, the movie would have been called ‘The Nun That Lies.’

On a budget of just 20 million the film has already reached payback time and following its success with the Academy Award nominations at the Oscars™ it will no doubt be seen by millions more now followed by plenty of DVD purchases, downloads (legal!) and rentals.

It is tough movie to watch, not only the subjects being addressed (did the priest touch the boy? Why doesn’t the mother mind?), but also because it moves along at a pace just above sedate. It’s nice to see a Hollywood movie that makes you think rather than just sit back just taking in the action.

It’s also good to see a movie to set you talking, discussing the content, after it’s finished when you try to work out just what happened and who really did what. The deliberations and arguments could go on for weeks.

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