In my youth I grew quite tired of Meryl Streep's name growing synonymous with the word Oscar as she was seemingly nominated every time they held an Academy Awards show. Sure she was a beautiful lady but why was she winning accolades for every film she appeared in, good or bad? Wasn't til I matured and began to discover her versatility as an actress that I realized just how great she is. Like a fine wine, Streep has matured and you have to admit looks damn good at nearly the age of sixty. There's a youthfulness and energy to her acting style that even the freshest of faces can't project in their performances. She just might be the greatest living actress in films today and chances are there are no limits to what she can do and with her playing Julia Child soon, it looks like she can do anything. She was nominated recently for her role as the icy magazine editor in the comedy 'The Devil Wears Prada' and will no doubt be honored again for either her work in this summer's musical 'Mamma Mia' or her latest 'Doubt'.

Streep disappears behind a thick New York accent as Sister Aloysius a principal at St. Nicholas, a Catholic church and school in the Bronx. Set in 1964, Sister Aloysius' conservative values clash with the progressive philosophy of young Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) who becomes her greatest antagonist in the film. Like many villains Sister Aloysius has good intentions and doesn't think she runs her school "like a prison" as one nun suggests, but makes every effort to project her old time values upon others and instill fear in the students. Father Flynn is just the opposite; he has a big brother rapport with the boys where he encourages them to have good hygiene and be respectful when a girl turns them down at the school dance. Aloysius barely tolerates Flynn's liberal attitude, but when naive history teacher Sister James (Amy Adams) brings to her attention his relationship with the school's only black student (Joseph Forster), she makes a mountain out of a molehill.

Sister James is disturbed that Flynn called the boy out of class for a private meeting and the youth subsequently returned upset with alcohol on his breath. When Aloysius confronts Flynn on the matter, he reluctantly reveals that the youth was caught drinking altar wine and he'd hoped to keep it quiet to avoid making him step down as an altar boy. But its the way that Aloysius confronts Flynn that bothers him. Rather than ask him directly in a private fashion, she calls him into her office to discuss with Sister James their plans for the Christmas celebration. (Her attitude towards the Holiday song 'Frosty the Snowman' is that its promotes magic and paganism, but Flynn thinks she needs to change with the times.) The underhanded way in which she confronts him adds friction to their relationship and sets them on a dangerous path. Though Flynn provides a perfect answer for summoning the boy, Aloysius is not convinced or doesn't want to be. She suspects molestation, but can not prove it and as she continues to press the matter throughout the film, Flynn always seems to have the perfect answer regarding his relationship with students.

'Doubt' isn't so much a story of "did he or didn't he", but how the old clashes with the new, suspicion versus proof, conservative versus progressive religious values and the direction of the Catholic faith. Director John Patrick Shanley's original stage play won four Tony's and the Pulitzer prize yet the translation to screen doesn't appear to have been a easy one. Expanding the intimate story involving four characters to a large cast of supporting players actually dilutes the story and takes some of the focus off it's original themes. There are distractions involving outside events like an approaching winter storm or a cat being brought in to literally catch a mouse that aren't necessary to bring attention to the story's themes. It's as if Shanley isn't confident in his own material and felt he needed additional devices to drive it home.

Subtlety often works best and that can be found in Hoffman's likable demeanor and Streep's unchanging attitude. As polar opposites they serve each other well and actual enhance the other's performance. Amy Adams does a fine job playing the role of a mousey character who barely speaks her mind, but breaks through her sunny disposition only when pushed, but nearly the whole cast is upstaged by Viola Davis who steals her one scene where she confronts Streep as the boy's mother. She's a welcome outside stimulus from the real world who is like a breath of fresh air that's needed in Aloysius' stuffy realm of religion and pride.