Father Flynn In Doubt
Arguably, the sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic priests is the worst incident to erode the moral authority of the Church in its 2,000 years. The scandal has provided numerous “ripped-from-the-headlines” inspired stories, but few movies have dealt with the power of the suspicion that comes from these allegations, and the dangers of living in a culture of reckless distrust in quite the same way that Doubt did.
The plot centers on Sister Aloysius (played by Meryl Streep), who is single-mindedly determined to prove that her parish’s priest, Father Flynn (Hoffman), is abusing an altar boy. Aloysius finds the attention Flynn pays to the boy, the school’s only black student, suspicious, but Flynn’s reasonable explanations only emboldens her further to find dirt on him.
The viewer is dared in equal measure to suspect Flynn and believe him innocent, and Hoffman works hard to make sure he doesn’t lead us one way or the other. Though the actor has often played bad men, and done so to tremendous acclaim, Flynn seems quite likeable. He’s got humor, and kindness, and seems genuinely engaged and concerned with the people of his parish, especially young Donald Miller who may be getting abused at home. How can this man be doing the horrid things that Aloysius thinks he’s doing we ask ourselves. But there’s something there. Something in the way he responds to Aloysius’ examination, something in the look on his face when she confronts him with “allegations” from his old church. Like Aloysius, in the end, we all have our doubts about our well-worn perceptions.