Long article on Meryl and Doubt

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 7:38am

Doubt is a truly brilliant piece of writing – a work of formidable intelligence and great subtlety, which ultimately raises more questions than it answers, leaving the audience to wrestle with moral conundrums on its own. By the end of it, my feeling was that Father Flynn was guilty of nothing more than an excess of kindness. This does not please Streep. She looks at me evenly and says, 'Then we have failed. I honestly think that this is not where you want to be at the end. You must be really uncertain. You should have doubt. And what I'm feeling from you is that you didn't.'

There is one scene in the film that led me to that conclusion. It is a scene that is not in the play, and which I shall forbear from describing for anyone who sees the film. It is also a scene that Streep says she had 'knock-down, drag-out fights' with the producer, Scott Rudin, to have cut. 'To me it destroys part of Sister Aloysius's doubt about what she has done. And that was hard for me.'

How ferociously did she argue the point?

'Well, short of saying I wouldn't do any interviews…' Streep arches her eyebrow meaningfully. 'And I almost went there. That, by the way, is the only thing they pay attention to. Me screaming, "But I think this, I feel very strongly about that…" – that's just noise. But I didn't have a prayer. 'I wasn't angry. I was speechless, because I really don't think that doubt in increments should be removed from this at all. Doubt is our friend. And once you tip the scales in one direction or another it's very, very dangerous. The thing is calibrated like a tuning fork: it's either A, or it's not A.'
mother superior

Updated On: 12/7/08 at 07:38 AM

[buddharich]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 10:56am

Thank you for sharing this article. I haven't seen this movie yet but this added scene sounds perfectly dreadful. Quite honestly, the fact that John Patrick Shanley has directed his own play fills me with, ahem, doubt. But even more importantly my gut tells me that Philip Seymour Hoffman is totally miscast. Father Flynn needs to be played by a thin good looking actor IMO. I'm not a PSH fan at all. I'll definitely see the film but how I wish Cherry Jones were playing her role!!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 10:58am

I know this has been mentioned several times, but it's worth repeating.

Matt Damon would have been PERFECTION as Father Flynn.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 11:45am

Why is it that people feel that Father Flynn's appearance has to be a certain way?

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:08pm

Because Flynn is being judged on circumstantial evidence. A large portion of this "prejudging" comes from his appearance and his manner. How others perceive him. Whether we already think he's innocent or guilty, even before we know anything. Even before he speaks.

How we see him (as an audience) is crucial to the casting. If we already think he's guilty, the stakes aren't as high. We don't care as much if Aloysius goes after him or not. We have to be rooting for him and his innocence, to a certain degree, or there is no major conflict in the story.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:28pm

I understand that concept but what I was referring to specifically was the "good looking, thin actor". There are many priests who were accused of sexual miscounduct who did not fit that description at all. I am going into the film with a totally open mind having seen the play and realizing that they are two different mediums.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:49pm

Damon isn't really thin. (O'Byrne was/is) And I agree he would have been perfect for the role. But I think that for some of us who have seen it onstage and know Mr. Seymore-Hoffman's work, he just looks guilty from the start. I too am going to try to go in with an open mind. He is an extremely talented actor and I am hoping he pulls this off. I read an early review and the problem the reviewer had was not with him but with Ms. Streep.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 1:16pm

What a fascinating interview. Meryl comes off, surprisingly, as kind of a b*tch. But as Dustin Hoffman said, I still respect her as an actress...

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 1:53pm

Firstly, what a F'ing gorgeous picture.

Second of all, I didn't get that feeling at all Baritone. What I came away from the article with is that she continues to be extremly passionate about the work that she does and is striving to be better in every role she pursues. Her recalling the added scene and how she fought about it with Stanley is a testiment to that.

[pattilupuppy]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 2:19pm

Very interesting article... you can tell the interviewer was not pleased hence the adding in of shanleys quotes... which were barely about the show/movie but about Meryl... interesting!

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 2:48pm

Can anyone elaborate on the added scene?

[wonkit]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 5:10pm

ETA: I watched the trailer again, and withdraw my previous criticism.
Updated On: 12/7/08 at 05:10 PM

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 9:06am

MILD SPOILERS

In her scenes with Hoffman, Streep is understandably flustered and cowed by his mammoth overacting, and in their last confrontation he succeeds in shouting her into submission. But she has rarely been as vulnerable on screen as she is in several moments here, not least her fully felt declaration of doubt at the conclusion of the film. Doubt doesn't work fully on screen as it did on stage, but it's worth seeing for Streep's grace notes. Watch for the moment when she mentions her husband who died in World War II; almost any other actress would have shown us a flash of grief, or a stiffening sort of proud stoicism, but what does Streep do? She tugs at her black nun bonnet, irritably! As Stella Adler said, your talent as an actor is in your choices, and Streep's choices are as fresh and penetrating in Doubt as they were 30 years ago in The Deer Hunter.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=4018

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:59am

[bundy5000]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 12:01pm

I went to the Premiere at the Paris theater in Manhattan last night.
The intensity of the film griped the audience. It could have been because the producers and cast were their though.(then again maybe not) anyways I was very moved by it, by the plot and my own personal past. i went to Catholic school, had the one scary nun, was an altar server and my parish had a priest accused of "the bad deed"

I have not seen any of the other films that are possible Oscar contenders. (besides the Dark knight) But I think Meryl portrays a character that I have never seen in any films. I thought about Mother Superior in Sister Act kinda as a joke.

viola davis' part was small but hit hard. There was a lot of symbolism throughout the film that reflected the many emotions.