“The considerable integrity and strength of John Patrick Shanley’s play prevail despite a questionable central performance in ‘Doubt.’ ” Ok, so the cast includes, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis, uhh…, Variety’s Todd McCarthy isn’t ragging on Meryl Streep is he?
Why yes he is. The Variety scribe was impressed with the film, calling it an, “intelligent, absorbing drama,” but to him, the 14-time Academy Award nominee (and two-time winner) is the films weakest link. Bold words.
“The film’s one iffy element, oddly enough, is Streep. This master screen actor, who applies a slight New Yawk accent to her phrasings, takes the vocal low road here as opposed to the more forceful approach of Cherry Jones in her riveting Broadway turn. By ostensibly underplaying the role’s villainy, however, Streep overdoes the melodrama, thereby turning Sister Aloysius into more of a stock figure than she ultimately seemed onstage. Every little tic, gesture and facial mannerism seems maximized by the effort expended to minimalize them, to diminished returns in the cause of creating a three-dimensional character. While the dramatic scenes still register with notable force, it’s a disconcerting, unsatisfying performance from a thesp who most of the time rings true.”