Do It: See "Doubt"

As I have hinted before, Meryl Streep sometimes seems to me to draw too much attention to her acting even as she gives a fine performance. Well, she has landed a perfect role in the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Doubt." She plays an uptight, mannered school maarm of a nun who uses her iron rod discipline and belief in the power of day-to-day order to keep a simmering crisis of faith at bay. Streep is impeccably supported--and it IS her movie--by the always-excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman (who is perhaps woefully thwarted from being the greatest actor of his generation by being so obviously, strikingly, instantly, persistently recognizable) and by Amy Adams, who deserves another Oscar nod for her performance.

In fact, the whole damn thing is perfect. The new-to-me Viola Davis gives Adams a run for her money and the rest of the cast argues that Ellen Chenoweth--whose casting talent brought you 2007's "No Country for Old Men" and "Michael Clayton"--is seriously, seriously underpaid. And it never hurts to film a play. There is something about the distillation of mood and the strong narrative structure necessary to undergird a successful play that makes for a stylized but powerful movie. Think "Spanish Prisoner" or "American Beauty" -- both theatery films either by design or directorial sensibility.

Anyway, do yourself a favor: get over whatever is keeping you from the meg-o-plex-i-con this season and see "Doubt." Do it.

PS - Ellen Chenoweth worked on "O Brother, Where Art Thou," "Ruthless People" and "Diner." Seriously. Underpaid. Oh, and "I Bow Down and Pray to Every Woman I See" by Chuck Prophet leaves no doubt; now playing on iTunes.