Following recent trends, Meryl Streep won an Academy Award for a convincing portrayal of a recent historical figure in a biopic that was enjoyed by many (following Sean Penn in Milk, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote and Jamie Foxx in Ray). Others portrayed dynamic characters and captivated audiences but Streep truly brought The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, to life. Looking back at a nearly forty year political career while suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Streep (and Jim Broadbent who played Denis Thatcher) soar to heights that the plain film is incapable of reaching.
Doubt
Contradictions and contrasts abound throughout Doubt: good and evil, summer and winter, certainty and doubt. Largely due to the captivating performances of Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the audience experiences similar opposite emotions. Who is in the right: Streep’s stern Sister Aloysius or Hoffman’s relaxed Father Flynn? As the seasons change, so does the apparent truth. “What’s this? The wind is so … peripatetic this year,” comments Sister Aloysius early in the film. Later, as Father Flynn arrives in the parish with new ideas, the school principal fights back, criticizing the priest regarding matters ranging from his close relationship …