What's a better medium...film or theatre?
I'm gonna go with theatre, obviously. But, I went to see "Doubt" tonight and was actually pretty dissapointed. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams - brilliant. But my thinking is; film is such a broad medium...I don't want to give anything away, but in the play version, the entire play takes place in Sister Aloysius' office...and because it's in a theatre, we accept that even though we're only being shown one location, there are OTHER locations - Donald's house, Sister James' classroom, the gym, etc...but if you're going to tell this story on film, you might as well take the viewer to all of these different places simply because you can...otherwise, what makes it different from seeing it on stage? Why not go into Donald's home and actually see his father hitting him? Why not show more of Donald all together when he's such a pivitol part of the story?
I love John Patrick Shanley...seriously, he's writes some of the most beautiful dialogue I've ever read...but maybe he should have left this one alone. By the end of the movie, he had almost changed Father Flynn's character with extra dialogue...you didn't know what to think, who to root for, and I know that's the thing; you're not supposed to know whether or not Father Flynn's guilty, BUT in the play, it's a lot easier to "take sides". Whereas, in the movie, Shanley added some lines (I won't say what they were) that left anyone familiar with the play saying "what the...did he just?...WHAT?"
So, that's my two cents. If anyone wants to see a phenomenal movie, you should go see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I'm not one for movie reviews...unless, in this case, it's a play that I'm very familiar with....but trust me, CCoBB is great.
On a completely different note, why are there 8 Real World cast members? Aren't there supposed to be 7? And why are they JUST NOW putting a transgenered on the show? C'mon MTv.
xo
Ash