Doubt, the much-anticipated drama directed and adapted by John Patrick Shanley from his own Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, and starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Viola Davis, will be the new Opening Night Gala presentation at AFI FEST 2008. The screening will take place on Thursday, October 30, at ArcLight Hollywood's Cinerama Dome.
The AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival has announced that the print to be screened on opening night is an "unfinished version" of the Miramax release, which hits theaters on December 12.
Joe Wright's The Soloist had originally been announced as the AFI FEST 2008 opening night film, but it was pulled by the studio a couple of days ago. Festival organizers needed a replacement fast. They've found — I hope — a really good one. Shanley's play, which I saw in Los Angeles, is a remarkable attack on the self-righteous morality police, eager to see evil wherever they look. Meryl Streep, playing an implacable nun with a self-appointed mission, is already being touted as a strong contender for this year's Oscar, while Doubt has been mentioned as a potential best picture nominee.
Here's the "official" Doubt synopsis:
It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A vibrant, charismatic priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), is trying to upend the school's strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the country, and, indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James (Amy Adams), a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius is galvanized to begin a crusade to both unearth the truth and expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shred of proof or evidence except her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn, a battle that threatens to tear apart the Church and school with devastating consequences.
AFI FEST 2008 runs October 30-November 9, 2008. Passes and individual film and event tickets are on sale now. To order passes and tickets and to get more information, visit www.AFI.com or call 1.866.AFI.FEST.
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