John Patrick Shanley's adaptation succeeds wonderfully, because it's a film that conveys just that -- doubt.
The cheesy new Keanu Reeves film, however utterly unnecessary and half-assedly realized and anticlimactic it may be (quite, it's fair to say), is also, in fact, a model of the true and absolute essence of cinema. I am offering a way to really appreciate this film, if only you can open your mind.
Despite the flatness of the pic, the cast is a veritable who's-who of prized Latino actors including character-actor-turned-headliner John Leguizamo, leather-faced Luis Guzman and household matriarch Elizabeth Pena.
With its bristling topicality, ritzy cast and the added bonus of Roger Deakins' gracefully bleak cinematography, Doubt is being squired around town as prime Oscar bait. But in Shanley’s hands, it only looks deep.
Something's not right when a movie made in the aughts is cheesier than the 1950s movie it's a remake of, a movie famous for its iconic image of a Jiffy-Pop-style flying saucer settling down on the Mall in D.C. so that an alien named Klaatu can deliver a message to mankind.