JUNKFILM

So, I finally gave in and watched one of the many Oscar films I
haven’t seen. Well, I’ve only seen a few of them… well, three. But
really, who saw “The Reader” and admits to it? I like Kate Winslet as
much as the next chick who loved Titanic and I like younger boys, as
well. I mean, not TOO young, but… well, you know what I mean. But
no, I didn’t watch that movie. Instead, I watched “Doubt.” I was
expecting some dated, boring drama with amazing acting from Meryl
Streep (because I kind of watched the Oscars and she did win an acting
award of some kind, didn’t she? So I knew what to expect from her,
acting-wise.) What I got was… well, much better than I expected.

I grew up in a Catholic family, went to church every Sunday and even
had a few priests that I enjoyed listening to when I wasn’t falling
asleep in the pew. Those things, I tell you, are not very comfortable
unless you lay down on them and then you annoy the people on either
side of you because your feet smell on one end and you’re drooling out
of the other. They should pad them, so you can have a little headrest
and some arm rests would be nice. Like a movie theater. That’d be so
cool!

But anyway, back to Doubt. The acting was absolutely amazing. Meryl
Streep plays an intimidating    Sister Aloysius Beauvier who is a veteran
Sister of the Church. She’s a bit angry, a tad bitter and very
passionate about her faith and the truth. I think she pulled it off
perfectly. Philip Seymour Hoffman is always good as a sexual deviant
and plays Father Brendan Flynn. The first time I saw him he was in
Cold Mountain as a priest who has had sex with his slave (a black
woman) and gotten her pregnant. He plays a small role in Patch Adams,
which is a movie that also has lots of kids in it. And a woman
swimming in spaghetti. And crazy squirrels attacking poor mental
patients. And, strangely, Robin Williams, who for the first time in
his acting career, played someone silly and goofy. Anyway, now Hoffman
is back amongst the children and being accused of something sexually
peverse. And his acting is such that you fall for him - you want to
have a role model like him, a priest like him, a friend like him. He
immediately shows that he’s caring, good at basketball, well-spoken
and takes good care of his fingernails. (Which are a bit long for my
taste, but whatev.) You have doubts that he’s as pure as he claims to
be, but you still really like him. He, along with Streep, look
extremely old in this movie. I know she’s aging a little bit, but
kudos to the make up department. The wrinkles around her mouth and her
gaunt cheeks were the only things I could stare at until about halfway
through the movie.

Another diamond in this film is Amy Adams       who plays Sister James.
She’s naive, innocent and kind of goes with the flow after she
unwillingly sets accusations in motion. She’s lovable and has a nice,
quiet voice. You instantly like her and want to take her under your
wing because she is so willing to believe whatever she is told, no
matter what her gut tells you. She’s an amazing character. And you
know what else? She looks exactly like the woman who is starring in
the movie adaptation of a book that should never need a movie
adaptation - “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” Although their names are
different. I can’t remember the one shopping girl’s name… something
like Elle Fitch? Ingrid Mister? Island Fisher. That’s it. Island
Fisher. Kind of invokes a mental image of an old guy with a stick. A
stick that has a string attached to it. He’s fishing all alone on an
abandoned island. That sounds like the lead up to a Gary Larson
cartoon.

They look exactly the same! Just like that one guy who looks just like
President Obama. I was surfing for stock photos of the newly-elected
President and came across this fellow. Now, of course, I can’t find
the guy. But picture a man who looks exactly like President Obama, and
then… change his name. He’s no longer President Obama… he’s some
other guy. But they look exactly the same. That’s the guy I’m talking
about.

And Morgan Freeman and almost every other aging black man who has
freckles. I know this sounds racist, but I assure it’s not. It started
as just a common mistake made by me assuming that some random actor
who looked just like Morgan Freeman and played in a role I think
Morgan Freeman would jump on, was Morgan Freeman when in fact, he was
not Morgan Freeman.

Anyway, the movie was really good. Doubt, that is. The acting is
phenomenal, the lighting is beautiful, the shot design is effective
and the metaphors and visual analogies are powerful. The whole thing
is well worth a watch. My only complaint is that the movie builds and
builds, and somewhere during the middle it hits you - “Wait. Just
wait. They’re going to do that one thing I hate so much, which is
leaving the end ambiguous. I just know it.” And you know what…
you’ll just have to watch it to see if they do that or not.