In a nutshell: The performances are better than the movie. Decently thought provoking though. 
Quick synopsis: Sister Aloysius (Streep) is on a crusade to remove Father Flynn (Hoffman) from his role as pastor after she believes something inappropriate may have taken place between him and a male student in their middle school.
Content: It is very obvious that Doubt is based on a play. It is very talky and takes place mostly in a few locations. Although, I have never seen nor heard much about the play, it seems to have been translated pretty well and cast perfectly. After all, Streep and Hoffman are both Oscar winners and deservingly so. Amy Adams is one of the better young-ish actresses out there, too. And I thought all three of them were on their A-game in Doubt. Streep completely transforms herself into a shrew of a nun, domineering and striking fear into everyone she comes into contact with. Hoffman made me want to believe his story, but gave me enough Doubt to keep me guessing. Adams acts as kind of a manifestation of the viewers take on the whole thing. She really wants to believe Flynn and asks the questions that we want her to ask.
All three actors received Oscar nominations for their roles, along with a fourth, Viola Davis playing the child's mother. Although she only appears in one scene, she goes head-to-head with Meryl Streep and unbelievably puts on a virtuoso performance that reduces Meryl Streep to background noise, merely there to give throw-in reactions necessary to keep Davis plowing through the scene. I had heard about this ahead of time, but I was still blown away. Plus, there are plenty of actresses who can cry on demand, but how many do you know that can make snot run uncontrollably from their nose like she does? Not many :)
I don't want to get into a deep philosophical arguments that this movie explores (centered around doubt, of course) but there is significant fodder for discussions. Sister Aloysius manages to prove to herself that something improper has occured, but is that enough to act on? And without proof, can we ever be sure of something simply based on our gut? Plus, in getting Flynn to give what she considers a confession, she veered outside the moral standards by which she must live and justifies it as necessary to conquer evil. But if there is any crack in her conviction, it compromises her methods, because she essentially gave Father Flynn no choice but to leave (or be publicly shamed, guilty or not). And when the tiniest bit of doubt creeps in at the end, her entire facade breaks down and she begins to crumble under the weight of her doubt in either Flynn's guilt or in her faith (which may be one in the same in this case).
Whew, what a mouthful. I'm glad I don't have to write a paper on this one.
First time director Shanley (the original playwright) does an admirable job, although it's not perfectly polished and in some places it seems as though he is trying too hard with all of those fancy angled shots. He makes it very fun to watch each of the characters go at each other. There is an especially impressive confrontation between Aloysius and Flynn near the end. But in the end, not all that much happens other than a lot of arguing. In fact, the major event that most of the story is based on might not have even happened. But nevertheless Doubt is an interesting one-time watch as long as you don't expect an eventful story. Instead, expect one strange occurrence to kick things off, then lots of engaging discussion about whether or not it happened.
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