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Doubt (movie tie-in edition) | 
 enlarge | Author: John Patrick Shanley
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
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Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 5513
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 64
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3
ISBN: 1559363479
Dewey Decimal Number: 812
EAN: 9781559363471
ASIN: 1559363479
Publication Date: December 1, 2008
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Product Description
Now a major motion picture! Starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley from his Pulitzer Prize–winning play. “The best new play of the season. That rarity of rarities, an issue-driven play that is unpreachy, thought-provoking, and so full of high drama that the audience with which I saw it gasped out loud a half-dozen times at its startling twists and turns. Mr. Shanley deserves the highest possible praise: he doesn’t try to talk you into doing anything but thinking-hard-about the gnarly complexity of human behavior.”?Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal “A breathtaking work of immense proportion. Positively brilliant.”?Melissa Rose Bernardo, Entertainment Weekly “#1 show of the year. How splendid it feels to be trusted with such passionate, exquisite ambiguity unlike anything we have seen from this prolific playwright so far. In just ninety fast-moving minutes, Shanley creates four blazingly individual people. Doubt is a lean, potent drama . . . passionate, exquisite, important and engrossing.”?Linda Winer, Newsday John Patrick Shanley is the author of numerous plays, including Danny in the Deep Blue Sea, Dirty Story, Four Dogs and a Bone, Psychopathia, Sexualis, Sailor’s Song, Savage in Limbo, and Where’s My Money? He has written extensively for TV and film, and his credits include the teleplay for Live from Baghdad and screenplays for Congo; Alive; Five Corners; Joe Versus the Volcano, which he also directed; and Moonstruck, for which he won an Academy Award for best original screenplay.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Flying Feathers December 30, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Unconditionally, the character, personality, and mind-set of Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) in John Patrick Shanley's play, "Doubt" is directly mirrored to that of Nurse Ratchet in Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
It is a well known common knowledge that it is, not only wrong, but outright dangerous to `assume.' Sister Aloysius `assumes' something wrong and unethical and perhaps even sacrilegious is taking place between Father Brendan Flynn and the first black student (Donald Muller) at the Catholic grammar school in the Bronx.
Father Brendan is not only the basketball coach for the school but his main obligation is being the pastor who holds mass on Sunday's at the schools church. Sister Aloysius Beauvier is the principal of the catholic school. Her philosophy of life and behavior are as old as she is. She maintains an iron, strict and heavy hand in keeping the young students in line. All the students as well as the nuns who teach in the catholic school, and are mostly as old as she is, fear her.
Sister James (Amy Adams) was the exception. She was the youngest of the nuns and did not fear Sister Aloysius. However, she overbearingly respected her to the point it could be construed as being fear as well. Sister James was the complete opposite of Sister Aloysius beginning with her age. Sister James was young and her character and personality was that of a caring, and loving nun. Her students loved her as much as they hated and feared the principal, Sister Aloysius.
Donald Muller, the first and only black student at the catholic grammar school, was an altar boy. He confided to Father Brendan, after a sermon the Father presented to the congregation that, he too, wanted to become a priest himself. Father Brendan was grateful and thanked the altar boy, Donald Muller, for the positive comments concerning the sermon he presented to the Sunday mass congregation.
Father Brendan Flynn was considered a good priest. He was friendly, respectful, lovable and sympathetic toward the young students. He would often empathize with the sometimes off- the-collar behavior of the students.
Donald Muller is caught by another altar boy drinking the Holy Communion Wine, which represents Christ's blood offering to Humanity. Father Brendan calls Sister James classroom and tells the Sister to send Donald Muller to the rectory. Only two people know of Donald's sacrilegious act, the altar boy who saw Donald drink the wine and Father Flynn. Father Flynn decides to break one of the altar boy's strict rules, and decides not to remove Donald from serving as an altar boy.
Donald Muller returns to the classroom and Sister James notices a visible apprehensive and troubled appearance in Donald Muller. The worst of it, however, is the smell of alcohol in Muller's breath. Sister James does not question nor does she confront Donald Muller; she is concerned but brushes it off. Later Sister James witnesses Father Flynn placing a shirt belonging to Donald Muller in Donald's locker located in the altar boys small locker room area next to the vestibule.
The principal, Sister Aloysius calls a meeting with Sister James to discuss plans for a forthcoming Christmas play to be performed by the students. It is during that meeting that Sister Aloysius, extemporaneously, expresses her concern for the attention Father Flynn is giving Donald Muller. Sister James innocently, but concerned as well, tells Sister Aloysius what she had witnessed.
Later Sister Aloysius confronts Father Flynn and lets him know she is, not only thinking the worst, but assumes the inconceivable. Father Flynn has no choice and tells Sister Aloysius the reason he called Donald Muller to the rectory and why Donald's breath smelled of alcohol. Sister Aloysius is not satisfied with the explanation and tells Father Flynn she will pursue the matter further. She refuses the suggestion to question Donald Muller stating Donald would lie on what happened to protect Father Flynn.
Father Flynn is not seriously concerned, but has no choice and removes Donald Muller from the altar boy services.
The next sermon Father Flynn presents the congregation on Sunday mass is titled, "Doubt." He tells the Sunday mass congregation of this parishioner who, while in the confession booth tells her church priest that she is troubled by something she witnessed a friend doing, but is not sure if it has any substance. She has no proof and only `assumes' the worst. The priest tells her to go home and cut a pillow repeatedly and to come to the confessional and tell him what happened. When the time comes, the parishioner tells the priest there were, thousandths... no, millions of feathers flying all over the room, the home, and the street. The priest tells her to go back and gather every single feather. She responds that was impossible. "Yes," the priest said to her, "That is how gossip is... millions of feathers that cannot be taken back once they fly out of the pillow."
Sister Aloysius gives Father Flynn an ultimatum; get a transfer or she would contact every parish he had served in to find out his character profile from every one of them. Father Flynn tells her he could fight her and win, but decides to leave the parish and school as she suggested. Father Flynn knew he was in a catch-22 situation; he was doomed if he fought her unfound allegations and doomed if he left the parish instead. It did not matter if he won against her allegations, it would be impossible to gather the millions of feathers that came out of the pillow. On the other hand, in leaving the parish he would take the pillow with him leaving only doubt behind.
Later Sister Aloysius breaks down, like a little girl who confesses she has done something wrong, and tells Sister James she feels a great amount of doubt about the assumptions, unfound allegations and innuendos she accused Father Flynn of. She also confesses to Sister James that she lied to Father Flynn about some steps she had taken to find out all she could about his past as a priest. She doubts she has done the right decision.
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I have provided a synopsis of the play. You as a reader or viewer must read or see the play and make your own decision based on the circumstantial evidence provided in the play. As a reader or viewer of the play, you become a juror on the stage of world opinion. If after reading or viewing the play, you conclude without a doubt the assumptions, and allegations have substance, you must then find Father Flynn guilty. On the other hand, if you feel the slightest inclination towards "doubt," you must then acquit Father Flynn of the assumptions and allegations presented by Sister Aloysius.
It is always dangerous to "assume." One must never "assume." There has been many cases where individuals, as well as entire families, have been destroyed based on an "assumption" which was later, too late, proven wrong or false.
It is always impossible to gather all the millions of feathers that false accusations, innuendos and gossip spread out of the pillow.
Playwright, John Patrick Shanley, has done an excellent job in prodding and inciting the individual's mind regarding "doubt." I strongly recommend reading and viewing his play, "Doubt."
Very Intelligent and Thoughtful Read December 26, 2008
Doubt has to be one of the most well written and intelligent reads that I have read in quite some time. The story takes place in the Bronx in 1964 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church. At the center of the story is Fr. Flynn whose possible behavior with an altar boy has come into question by the school's principal, Sr. Aloysius.
Although the evidence against the priest appears to be circumstancial, Sr. Aloysius, nevertheless, goes on a crusade to have Fr. Flynn removed from his position in the parish in order to protect not only the boy that she assumes he is having an inappropriate relationship with, but future boys as well.
It is very interesting to see the power struggle that goes on as St. Aloysius attempts to go against the establishment, the Church, when she truly has no recourse due to a particular chain of command that exists within the Church. What makes the story even more riveting is that the boy in question, Donald Muller, is African American. This play is not only dealing with the issue of alleged pedophiles, but is also dealing with the issue of civil rights. Muller is the only black child at St. Nicholas which is a predominantly Italian and Irish parish.
The entire story is laced with innuendo, strong belief, principles, and most of all doubt. One cannot be sure if a relationship exists or not and Sr. Aloysius must ultimately deal with her own doubt about her actions.
 No Doubt December 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As I started kindergarden in 1964 & Catholic school in 1965 (before they had kindergardens), in an "outer boro" of NYC, I will claim immediate expertise. From the outset, there are a number of background issues which require suspended disbelief:
* In 1964, each grade in a typical Catholic grammar school in the "outer boros" of NYC would have been much, much more teeming with children.
* The average age of religious sisters would have been much, much younger in a typical parish convent.
* It would not have been at all unusual to see priests and religious sisters, who were still in their twenties. Children would have likely viewed a "Father Philip Seymour Hoffman" as an "old man", rather than a young hipster.
* Quite a few tongues would have been wagging, to learn that a "Sister Meryl Streep" was a widow.
* In that seemingly more innocent world, it is unfortunately difficult to believe that any adult would have so forthrightly pursued a suspicion of abuse - especially based on so little.
For 10 religious sisters (and/or lay teachers) to manage 1600 school children required expertise in crowd control! Right or wrong, Sister Meryl Streep recognized a need to be the "heavy." While obviously too quick with her hands, I appreciated that John Patrick Shanley cut through layers of stereotype to reveal a woman who cared passionately about children. While much will be said of Sister Meryl Streep's odd distaste for ball point pens,
* She spots the existential psycho-babble quality to "Father Hoffman's" homilies.
* She recognizes the complete lack of prudence, in his advocating a superficial (& duplicitous) breakdown of boundaries between the children and priests and religious sisters.
In retrospect, I believe that Sister Meryl Streep was a streetwise, passionate advocate for children, who recognized something amiss in Father Hoffman's relationship with a young student. When she tries a "bluff", Father Hoffman reveals that her suspicions were on target (except if he were an innocent acting guilty!).
Simple yet effective December 22, 2008
A lot had already been written by other reviewers about the script, so I will not repeat what has already been said. I cannot agree more with the rave reviews. Just would like to assert and to reaffirm that fact that the script is well structured, with no redundancy in word, in the theatricality, or in the direction. I have personally not been able to see either the play on stage or the movie on screen, but I must say the drama as written in word succeeded abundantly in producing suspense while maintaining its poise (without ever divulging more than is necessary). Just a wild guess that something bad did happened in the play, but not exactly as what was suspected. In other words, I think the author did convey a truth, and you could guess it if you are careful enough.
Geishas Revisited December 11, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have ordered several items from Amazon recently and your request for review does not state which one you are referring to. I assume that it is for "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden.
We recently returned from a trip to Japan, where we heard about the lives of modern geishas and actually met one too. I was fascinated by the book and could not put it down. The cultural differences among our Countries are incredible. Imagine men bidding for the virginity of a young geisha. But don't think about them as prostitutes. There are subtle but very important differences. Rather compare them with a young woman - in our Country - who marries a 70 year old... Isn't that a "kept woman"?
But there is much more to be learned than sexual habits. I strongly recommend this book. It is at least very entertaining. But also very informative.
Marika Frankl
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