DOUBT (2008): Best Actresses Streep and Davis Come Together as Best Actresses Should

This year’s Best Actress race has seemingly come down to a two way showdown between the always immaculate Meryl Streep of The Iron Lady and the emotionally divine Viola Davis of The Help. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you already know that I’m not the biggest fan of Streep in The Iron Lady – it’s not that her performance isn’t great (hello, this is Meryl Streep we’re talking about!), it’s more that the material is pretty lackluster and the fact of an elderly, physiologically damaged Margaret Thatcher looking back at her life is a plot device that is overtly showy and way too awards savvy for my liking. Davis, on the other hand, does wonders as Aibileen Clark in The Help, not only exposing the grave complexties of a black maid in racially torn Mississippi but also providing the film with its true emotional core. However, no matter the role, there’s no denying that Streep and Davis are two of the best actresses working today, and how splendid it is, then, that one can see both of these fine women doing incredibly powerful work together in the 2008 religious drama, Doubt, a film that is a definite must-see.

   Written and directed by John Patrick Shanely, who adapted the story from his own play, Doubt was released in 2008 to rapturous praise but never really found a solid footing – probably thanks to the dominance of Slumdog Millionaire during the same time period. However, if you missed the film back then, it’s about time you see it because it’s an extremely powerful film with one of the best acting ensembles I think I’ve ever seen – and guess what? It’s Streep and Davis who own the movie and floor you with their gravitas and intense prowess’.

Screw The Iron Lady, Streep’s performance as Sister Aloysius – a nun who begins to draw suspicions that a priest may be having a sexual relationship with the church’s shy, new black student – is an intense tour-de-force. Streep’s glaring eyes and vigorous tone make her Sister a tyrannical dictator that everyone fears, from her students to her own contemporaries. Scenes set at Sisterhood dinners, where Streep dominantly sits at the head of the table, are so chilling that it’s almost comical – no one eats, no one speaks, no one even thinks unless Streep tells them to. Her performance strikes you to the core so much so that, like the characters in the film, you too feel somewhat afraid to speak out or even think thoughts against Sister Aloysius’ beliefs. What Streep does so fascinatingly in the film is that she never once gives way to the truth through her expressions or mannerisms – did Sister Aloysius actually see the priest do anything? What is making her so convinced the priest is so guilty? Does her desire to get rid of the Father stem from personal views or her role as a Sister? Does it all have to do with the fact that the student is black? The power of Streep’s performance is that she never lets us in on an answer and, instead, only hints at possibilities, an acting method that elevates the film from a religious drama to a somewhat, I think, extremely effective psychological thriller.

Then there’s Davis, who like this year with her performance in The Help, upstages veteran Streep as Mrs. Miller, the fragile mother to the black student at the center of all the suspicion. In just around eight minutes of screen time, Davis gives one of the most emotional performances I’ve seen in a film; in just once scene, you meet Mrs. Miller, she explains her concerns that all this suspicion will lead to her son’s expulsion and, thus, a lack of a proper education, and then you never forget her, or Davis for that matter. In fact, this film was the first time I was introduced to Davis and I’ve never forgotten about her since. When I say that she has the most powerful eyes in the business, I’m not joking around; though she revealed her extraordinary talent to give a scene an emotional center through her soft, heartbreaking gaze in The Help, in Doubt, Davis simply leaves you in tears. Here is a woman with no choice but to plead for her son’s well being, and when Davis daringly tries to challenge Sister Aloysius you already know there’s no way shes going to win despite her best intentions to protect her son – it’s this failed hope that Davis pulls off and that leaves you emotionally floored by her work.

With additional exceptional work by Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the friendly but consistently challenged Father and Amy Adams as Sister Aloysius’ naïve understudy, Doubt has an ensemble for the ages; in fact, all 4 leads were nominated for Oscars but eventually got lost in the mix thanks to likes of Kate Winselt, Heath Ledger, and Penelope Cruz, who somehow took the win over Davis in what I consider to be one of the biggest snubs in Oscar history.

So, as we count down the days until we found out whether Streep or Davis is this year’s Best Actress, why not settle for these 2 great actresses in 2 exceptional performances all for the price of 1 – see Doubt, it’s a film you’ll think about for days with an ensemble that defines acting perfection.

(3 and ½ stars out of 4)