Meryl Streep

• Title: Doubt
• IMDB: link

At the heart of the film written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, who adapted his play for the screen, is the issue of change vs. the status quo.  Set in the Bronx during the 1960’s the film deals with the conflict between the more liberal priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and the older Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep).

Set between the pair is the good-natured Sister James (Amy Adams) who is the catalyst for the story when her observance of events causes Sister Aloysius to believe, with certainty, that Father Flynn has taken improper advances with a young black student (Joseph Foster).

Is the accusation real, or is it simply an excuse for the traditional nun to get rid of the crazy priest and his new-fangled ideas?  Is there room, for doubt?

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• Title: Lions for Lams
• IMDb: link

“These events are going to define our lives.”
“The problem is not with the people who started this.  The problem is with us, who do nothing.”

Robert Redford‘s latest flick is what we would call a message film.  The characters themselves aren’t that important; they are only there to promote the message the director and writer want to convey.  The odd thing about the film is, for a message film, it’s all over the place.

The film moves through three different storylines.  The first involves a professor (Redford) trying to motivate on of his brightest but most apathetic students (Andrew Garfield).  The second involves the preemptive Republican nominee for President (Tom Cruise) giving an interview to a reporter (Meryl Streep) about a new military strategy.  The third story involves a group of Army Rangers (including Michael Pena and Peter Berg) making an attack inside Afghanistan.

It doesn’t really matter how the different threads connect, but if you care go see the film or simply check out the trailer.  What is important is the message of the film and what it sets out to say about America, our government, and our responsibilities and duties both at home and overseas.

Although the performances are all quite good I had more than a few issues.  I never bought Cruise as a Presidential nominee, though I could buy him as a Senator promoting his own agenda.  Nor did I buy Streep as the ace reporter who becomes too easily flustered by the circumstances and events in which she finds herself.

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Lions for LambsRead More »