For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

Sometimes I feel so dumb when I see these movies....

DID Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) actually have an affair with Donald Miller (or molest him)?

I know the whole point of the movie is "doubt" but he pretty much acted guilty so he left, right? Or is there supposed to be room for another reason he left since Meryl Streep broke down at the last scene?

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

I was left so baffled by this movie!

I think the whole point was that she seemed to be so sure that he molested the child but in the end, made her "doubt" be known.

I think its whatever you believe. I thought he did since he left and she mentioned that she never made that phone call. So I guess he was guilty no? But then the scene at the end...I thought she meant she has overall doubts, like about life. LOL My mom said she thinks it meant about what she thought she was so sure about. I did not enjoy the movie too much.

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

See, I actually LOVED the movie - it reminded me of Mamet films, for some reason, I love really staged dialogue if delivered well by actors (which Mamet is famous for)

This Shanley guy did the same thing, and I am a huge Streep and Hoffman fan, and seeing them in the same scene together was like a dream come true to me (uh oh, here come the geek police )

I loved the dialogue, the acting, the whole sermon thing, the doubt thing, the vulnerability in character thing, and Amy Adams in the middle.... Loved it, frustration and all!

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

Doubt is an amazing movie! The whole point is that you are supposed to decide yourself whether he did it or not.

I was curious what the relevance of the long fingernails was? Any guesses?

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

Well, the long nails symbolizes that "his hands are clean" which he emphasized how important that was, which means he literally is innocent, or working on maintaining a clean image if he isn't. Also long nails are feminine so it could fuel suspicion. If you are going to see it as him being innocent it could also be the biblical "washing my hands" of this and refusing to defend his innocence and moving to a new parish.

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

I think the whole point of the movie is that the viewer chooses a side, we think he did it or did not, and then we have doubts as well since they never actually tell you whether he molested children or not. But that's as deep as I go and I could be completely wrong.

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

Amazing film and an amazing play. I think she did have doubts about his guilt and the whole way she handled herself in regards to him. I'm not sure if he was guilty or not. I hope he wasn't...Only Shanley knows for sure.

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...

The long fingernails are referenced to fuel suspicion that he's gay. (it's the 1950s - I guess they were very into fingernails)

There is no clear ending. The audience is supposed to debate what the truth is.

I thought the play was great but I didn't like the movie. I thought Shanley's direction was terrible and way too obvious (the dinner scene with the VERY rare meat). I also thought Meryll Streep was too over the top. I thought Cherry Jones (in the original stage production) really found the nun's humanity.

Re: For those that saw the movie Doubt - Complete spoilers here, proceed with caution...