Streep and Seymour Hoffman in Doubt Film

[catstagestud]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:14pm

This just in from Playbill.com. I thought that Streep would be doing this...now who will they get for Adriane Lenox's role...Angela Bassett anyone?

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107473.html

Cheers,

Christopher

Updated On: 4/19/07 at 06:14 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:16pm

Good casting, though you should make it clear that it's Philip Seymour and not Dustin.

[willact4food]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:16pm

Ah, this is so exciting! I really feel they will do an amazing job with this movie. It's a beautifully written piece of art.

Now, let's just hope that Ms. Lenox is able to revive her Tony Award winning performance in the movie!

[catstagestud]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:18pm

Corrected..I think?

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:20pm

Sorry, but Hoffman is all wrong. You'd know he was guilty from the minute he walked onscreen.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:20pm

Damn, Streep is playing every theatre role turned turned movie role.

Not that I'm complaining!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:29pm

Hoffman could certainly capture the meekness of the character....but you're right....he's too seedy looking.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:31pm

They should have cast somebody more physically attractive in the role. The show is intensely more interesting when there is the glimmer of possibility that perhaps the student initiated the sexual advance. Very unlikely to happen with Hoffman.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:35pm

*Yawn* Talk about boring. Can Meryl Streep do it? Of course! But there are at least a dozen different actresses that could do it just as well and would be more interesting and less obvious. Streep is probably among my top three favorite actresses but as she said in her speech when she received an Emmy: "sometimes even I think I'm overrated."
Hoffman is all wrong for the part. Again, we had a dozen more different suggestions that would've been more interesting and appropriate, Matt Damon comes to mind.
*Yawn*

[mint0621]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:38pm

Cherry JOnes should be on the one in the film, not Streep.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:40pm

I agree, MB. I was actually gonna say that with Hoffman playing the role, the DOUBT would be gone, at least for me.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:46pm

What a joke.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:47pm

I agree with the sentiment that Hoffman is all wrong, for the reasons already stated. Maybe they can change the title to Assurance?

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:48pm

i think that Hoffman can act it, i just don't think that he's physically right for the part...

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:49pm

Maybe they can change the title to Assurance?

Or as Brantley suggested in his review of the replacement cast, No Doubt.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:55pm

Bad choice with Hoffman. I don't see nearly as much "doubt" as I should with him in this part.

I agree that he's not attractive enough physically to believe the kid MIGHT have instigated a pass. (which we should wonder about) I also think he comes off fairly effeminate on screen... and again, most people aren't going to "doubt" the accusations.

So we're left with "doubting" one's beliefs? Not enough doubt in "Doubt" the movie, for me.

They just lowered the dramatic stakes significantly.

Yawn.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 6:57pm

Hoffman doesn't strike me as having Father Flynn's charismatic spark, either.

[D2]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:02pm

So then if the doubt hinges on who is playing the part, than how good can the text really be?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:04pm

"They should have cast somebody more physically attractive in the role. The show is intensely more interesting when there is the glimmer of possibility that perhaps the student initiated the sexual advance. Very unlikely to happen with Hoffman. "

Spot on--I thinkt hat' simportant to the character.

Really does this film NEED a name like Streep? I think it coulda gotten Jones some good attention--and it's a small budget, SMALL little film--I don't think ti will play to much bigger audiences even with Streep in the role nor does it have to--kinda disappointed

"So then if the doubt hinges on who is playing the part, than how good can the text really be? "

Oh that's silly. If you cast an overweight 40 something year old man as Tony in West Side Story it doesn't matter how good the material he's playing its audiences will miss a crucial element. If you cast a white tenor as Joe in South Pacific... You get my drift
Updated On: 4/19/07 at 07:04 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:05pm

I've seen him have charisma and charm. He can be very winning, but it's usually in an impish, playful way.

Not the charismatic spark you're thinking of AC126748, and not Father Flynn, I agree.

But this guy is a tough priest from the "streets."

It really should have been Matt Damon or Mark Wahlberg. Were they even considered? I'll bet they were both booked solid and couldn't coordinate with Streep's schedule.

I think they should have waited, or gone with another actress instead. As "showy" as her part is, it's the casting of Flynn that will make or break the "doubt," IMO.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:08pm

I'd have cast Judi Dench and Matt Damon.

P.S. Streep and Hoffman have worked together before - I bet she requested that he play the part. I doubt others were approached. Updated On: 4/19/07 at 07:08 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:19pm

I think you're probably right, MB. I bet the casting of Flynn depended on who Streep wanted to work with (I thought of this as soon as I realized they worked together in THE SEAGULL).
Point is, I wouldn't even have approached Streep to be part of this in the first place. I think with Streep in the role, the power game will not be half as interesting as it could've been.
And seriously, NO DOUBT or ASSURANCE would both be great titles for the film. Hopefully the other two roles will be more interesting.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:37pm

So then if the doubt hinges on who is playing the part, than how good can the text really be?

I've been saying that for two years, D2. The text is only as good as the actors involved, as the Atkins/Eldard pairing proved. The play itself isn't that great or substantial, in my opinion.

Hoffman is one of my favorite actors, but I just can't imagine him in the role.

Updated On: 4/19/07 at 07:37 PM

[D2]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:39pm

I knew I loved you AC126748! Thank you. I've been saying the same thing for 2 years also.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:46pm

"I've been saying that for two years, D2. The text is only as good as the actors involved, as the Atkins/Eldard pairing proved. The play itself isn't that great or substantial, in my opinion. "

Probably right-so then do it with two of the right actors in the role and it'll be a great movie experience--prob solved. I have no real problem with that--I'm not reading the play or nominating it for a pulitzer we're discussing the performers picked to bring it to life.