"Doubt, A Parable" Movie Review

The most recent in an increasingly sporadic series of movie reviews by me.

What a great movie! It makes me wish I had seen the play when it was recently presented at Neptune Theatre. There are some spoiler alerts throughout this post, so be warned if you want to see this movie, you should save reading this until after you have watched the film.

Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, two actors with great skills, play the lead characters. Amy Adams takes on a much more serious role than her typical female sidekick in a Will Ferrell movie, and Viola Davis had a brief but very moving appearance as the mother of the student who is in the centre of the story's central conflict.

The scene between Davis and Streep was more compelling to me than the climactic scene between Hoffman and Streep. There is so much going on during the few minutes between the two women, the dialogue is full of meaning and I personally found it to be the best scene of the movie.

Davis' character is one of four in the original play. She made the most of it in this scene. Oscars should be given for quality, not quantity. I agree with the nomination. Check out lists of other awards, all four actors were nominated for just about everything, as was the screenplay. In my opinion, they all did a great job.

The story has many examples of symbolism:

Bloody noses for one of the boys and one of the nuns. A bloody nose is a sign of upcoming danger or disaster. It happened to both the children and the church.

Names! Aloysius is the patron saint of students. Sister Aloysius was acting out of her concern for the welfare of the students.

Sister James, named for the first of the 12 Apostles to be martyred. Sister James represents innocence, which is the first trait to go when one leaves childhood. The central conflict of the movie would definitely make one grow up prematurely.

Veronica, the name can be broken down to vera (true) and icon (image), representing the old church that was being left behind with the wind of change of the 1960's, the winds being present throughout the movie. Veronica is the "old" church, with her blindness and age, being hindered by her habit (more than one sense of the word is applicable here).

**SPOILER ALERT** The dinner scene contrasting the priests having rare meat and wine, joking and carrying on while the nuns quietly ate their meal, showed that Father Flynn was in the old boys club, so we shouldn't have been totally surprised when he gets promoted by these same men. The scene when Flynn tells Aloysius that she was supposed to talk with the pastor, not a nun, from Flynn's former parish reinforces this message of old boys club. The point of the meat was that it was completely rare, showing once again that Flynn was all about fulfilling his physical desires.

Their titles of father and sister should tell us everything about the pecking order. All priests were called father, even new priests like Flynn (5 years) were superior to all nuns, even senior nuns like Aloysius, who was a Mother Superior. Priests were autonomous, nuns were subservient. That is what this scene shows us.

Father Flynn had long, well-kept fingernails. Long fingernails are a sign of femininity. Maybe how he showed them off to the boys in gym class was an advertisement, to see which of the boys would find them attractive? Flynn's repeating of the importance of keeping one's nails clean reminds me of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-28, when Jesus called the Pharisees and the scribes a bunch of hypocrites:

"25 What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy - full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,[a] and then the outside will become clean, too. 27 What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs-beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Flynn kept his nails "his cup" clean, when he was filthy inside. I think these verses speak volumes to the message of this movie, the hypocrisy of the church leaders who promoted Flynn and the injustice or lawlessness of that promotion.

Flynn's long and clean fingernails were one of his "vanities". Vanity is a version of pride, which is the greatest sin of all. The nuns chastised the female student (named "Horan"!) about a barrette in her hair - a simple adornment that they saw as a gateway to sexual immorality, which is later symbolically fulfilled with her proclaiming love for a boy.

Also, Flynn's smoking was another flaunting of the rules - he let his physical temptations get the better of him in a number of ways, knowing he was breaking the rules of the church and of God. His pride led to all sorts of sin, including his sins with boys at each of his parishes.

The scene where he smokes in front of Sister James, thereby bringing her in as an accomplice to his infraction of smoking as well as her belief in his innocence, was very well done by the actors and the writer.

**SPOILER ALERT** Sister Aloysius' doubts were in how the church leaders could let someone like Father Flynn be in charge of children when he was tempted by them. Her doubt may also have been to the point of questioning why God would allow such a thing to happen to other children even though she, as the bride of the church, had found him out. I figure it is a literary example of Sister Aloysius being a flawed hero: her lie to trap Father Flynn made her crusade impure, so it backfired.

Bottom line: Excellent acting performances of a very well-written (largely autobiographical) script, expertly directed by the playwright, worthy of the Pulitzer and Tony awards and many other nominations and awards it received.

Ron Burgundy Anchorman 300

This video is just awesome.

Cool actors

I read one of my friends Jason Macdonald's Facebook notes and I commented on it. Then I figured I may as well post it on here. The question he asked is: Who is cooler than Steve Buscemi? The inference here is "out of the people who were matched to Jason's image". This included Richard Clayderman, (who I suspect paid to have his image put on there - this is the most publicity he has ever received in North America, although apparently he is huge in countries whose people love elevator music. He's sort of a Kenny G for pianists.), Elijah Wood (who I think approaches cool, but he is too pretty), Clark Gable, Steve Buscemi, and wait for it....Kirsten Dunst! Hahaha! Anyway, such is the question that was posed.

Remember that cool is defined as "calm self-control".

In my opinion, Clark Gable is much cooler than Steve Buscemi. Watch some of Gable's movies - he is Mr. Cool. Steve plays characters that are so uncool it gives him a level of coolness (cool in the sense that he is an excellent actor), but for the real deal it's Gable, or Bogart, or Cary Grant, or Steve McQueen. I'll even throw in James Dean, although he was only in a few movies.

James Bond is cool, personified. So are the actors who played him, except for Roger Moore. Grrr! How could they let him play Bond! A farce, if you ask me.

Cool actors from our time? Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Liam Neeson and of course Jack Nicholson (although he has been around for 40 years). They have that self-confidence that is evident, no matter the role or the medium (film or TV). My favourite "new" actor for coolness is Christian Bale. Check him out in Batman Begins (by the way, Batman is the coolest superhero.)

De Niro vs. Pacino. A tangentially-related post to the Sporadic Series of Movie Reviews

Who was better in the 70's: Robert De Niro or Al Pacino? Who is better now?

Reasons why De Niro was great in the 70's:
Bang The Drum Slowly
Mean Streets
The Godfather 2
Taxi Driver
The Deer Hunter
and I'm gonna throw Raging Bull in there, although it was from 1980.

Reasons why Pacino was great in the 70's:
Godfather 1
Godfather 2
Serpico
Dog Day Afternoon
And Justice For All
and to be fair I'll throw in Scarface although it is from 1983.

It is a very close call, but I'm going to go with Pacino since he was the star in each of his great movies. De Niro was great, but he was also in some movies that had a bunch of other excellent actors in them.

One might say, "But two of Pacino's great movies were The Godfather 1 and 2 that had ensemble casts." Of course, the counterpoint could be made for Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, two of Scorsese's New York movies, where De Niro was the star.


Since the 70's both actors have had some hits and misses:

De Niro Hits:
Once Upon A Time In America - another ensemble movie, great film
The Mission - all Bobby
The Untouchables - ensemble cast
We're No Angels - some say is a miss, but I liked it. Also had Sean Penn and Demi Moore
Goodfellas - WOW
Cape Fear - much better than the original. I don't get Robert Mitchum's brand of scariness
A Bronx Tale - check it out, good even though it has Chazz Palmintieri
Casino - it's not Goodfellas 2 unlike what many people say, it's awesome in its own right
Heat
Sleepers
Analyze This - surprisingly good comedy with Billy Crystal
Meet The Parents - He plays a bit of a cartoon of himself, kind of like how Christopher Walken is getting work now

De Niro Misses, though some would disagree with me:
Stanley & Iris
Backdraft
Mad Dog & Glory - OUCH
Frankenstein - Huh?
The Fan
Cop Land
Wag The Dog
Analyze That
Meet The Fockers. Sadly, these last two are sequels that beat the life out of the one-liners and situations that made the originals so good

Pacino Hits:
Sea of Love - any movie that makes Ellen Barkin a sex symbol must be good
Glengarry Glen Ross - ensemble cast, but Pacino makes himself known on the screen
Scent of a Woman - I can't tell if his character is overblown or just typical Pacino
Heat
City Hall
Donnie Brasco - a different role for Al in that it is obvious that his character is a small-time loser rather than a bombastic "offense is the best defense" type guy
Devil's Advocate - Al makes up for Keanu (which is Hawaiian for "wooden acting").
The Insider
Any Given Sunday
Insomnia - Al's shar-pei look convinces us that he hasn't slept in weeks
Merchant of Venice - I think Pacino is in his element in Shakespeare
Looking For Richard - excellent documentary following Al in his pursuit to make Richard III

Pacino Misses:
Author! Author!
Dick Tracy - Ugh
Godfather 3 (though not his fault. Sofia Coppola ruined that movie)
Frankie and Johnny
Simone
The Recruit - did this movie have to be made? Haven't we seen Al in enough badass guy roles and Matt Damon in enough newbie secret agent roles?
Gigli? I had no idea he was in this one!


So pretty even so far. How about Oscars? Pacino: 9 nominations (5 in the 70's) and 1 win for Scent of a Woman. De Niro: 6 nominations and 2 wins (both wins in the 70's).

I think De Niro has spread out a bit, doing the comedies since the 70's which have been hits and misses. Pacino still knocks our socks off with his performances, while flexing his thespian muscles with some Shakespeare. I guess after all this, I have to stay with Pacino. De Niro is in cooler movies, but Pacino gets my pick as the better actor.

I guess I needed to reason out something I never knew that I needed to know.

The First in a Sporadic Series of Movie Reviews

Napoleon Dynamite: Dumbest Movie Ever? Your Mom's the dumbest movie ever! Yesssss!

This was one of the best movies I have seen to capture the discomfort that most teens have just being in their own skin. Napoleon and Kip were excellent.

I realized after Uncle Rico was complaining that his ex-wife said he was stuck in 1982 that the whole movie is stuck in 1982! Check out the cars, the clothes, the hair styles - all of it! Watch the movie with that in mind and it is even funnier.

This movie needs to be watched a few times to pick up all of the nuances.

A few of favorite scenes of mine:
- Napoleon's phone call home to Kip
- Deb and Napoleon when she was at his front door
- Uncle Rico selling the tupperware and the couple with the promotional model boat. Everything about that scene is too funny!

Check out this page for quotes.

In closing, I think this movie was so universal that it was loved by people like Napoleon and Deb and it was so quirky that it was hated by people like Don and Summer. Peace out!

A few thoughts about Oscar

I replied to my friend Alistair's mention of Tom Hanks blowing off one of the "hosts" who verbally attacked Tom as he was walking by backstage with William Monahan, the writer of The Departed.

Those award show "hosts" are the most superfluous part of an over-the-top back-self-patting extravaganza. Hmm, come to think of it, that last phrase was a little over-the-top, too. Over The Top, by the way, was an arm wrestling(!) movie starring Sly Stallone back in 1987. My friend and I were 2 of 3 people in the theatre for that one. It makes The Long Kiss Goodnight seem like Lawrence of Arabia by comparison. I think Alistair, Dean and I were 3 of the 5 or so people in the theatre for The Long Kiss Goodnight. You remember that one A.? Not that I'm bitter. ;-) It was Geena Davis's follow-up to Cutthroat Island. I think that one-two combo was the death knell for her career, a cameo in Stuart Little and a few TV appearances aside. Speaking of aside, enough of this aside: back to the Oscars!

Good on Tom Hanks for totally snubbing that "host" whose lameness with his attempt at comedy with the wooden horse race board (he called it "the latest in technology", or some such foolishness) that he held in his hand was only exceeded by his blind toadying/insinuation into Tom's life, which was going along just fine without that host (who shall remain nameless; OK, I don't know his name).

I am happy that Scorsese finally won Best Director. I think it was one of those body-of-work awards, although I really enjoyed The Departed. On another note, I agree with Alan Arkin who said that he hoped that his 10-year old co-star Abby Breslin would not win Best Supporting Actress. While he was joking by saying she would have to follow it up by winning a Nobel Prize next year, I have to agree with him. What could she do after winning the top award in her field at age 10? Best to simply get a nomination and not peak too early.

Speaking of peaking too early, you read it here first: Jennifer Hudson will never again achieve the acting success she currently has, with a Golden Globe and Oscar. Her role in Dreamgirls was her dream role and while she probably won't be back on cruise ships singing Disney tunes anytime soon, I wonder if she should quit while she's ahead. Unfortunately, I think her career will be disappointing to her and to her fans. I hope I'm wrong.

P.S. Here is a site that lists some other young hopefuls that never re-attained their Oscar peak. I guess most stars shoot across the sky in Hollywood.