Basically an Oscar candidate of sorts since the film was announced, “Doubt” is a film based on an apparently powerhouse play, translated to screen by the playwright himself (John Patrick Shanley) and stars none other than Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis and if you add that all up, it just screams Oscar. The film played at AFI on its opening night and a few industry insiders and the like scored sweet sneak peaks of it and the consensus is that the film is brilliant, thoughtful and intelligent, but Variety’s Todd McCarthy casts a doubtful shadow over Streep’s Oscar potential by calling her out as the weakest aspect of an otherwise great film.

Todd McCarthy calls the film an “intelligent, absorbing drama” and thinks Hoffman and Adams are fine, “Hoffman’s performance is ambiguous enough to make the viewer continue to wonder about Father Flynn and, crucially, to fear Sister Aloysius might actually be right. Thesp is particularly effective in his sermons, delivering his thoughtful remarks with a clarity and intellectual pertinence that many pastors might envy. Adams does all anyone could with the role of a nice young nun who must cope with the monster she unintentionally lets out of the box.”

He has high praise for Davis, “Davis’ performance is devastatingly great as a troubled mother forced to voice her own uncomfortable views about her lonely, ostracized son. The scene as a whole constitutes a 12-minute emotional demolition job.”

But on Streep, he is less than enthusiastic, “The film’s one iffy element, oddly enough, is Streep. This master screen actor, who applies a slight New Yawk accent to her phrasings, takes the vocal low road here as opposed to the more forceful approach of Cherry Jones in her riveting Broadway turn. By ostensibly underplaying the role’s villainy, however, Streep overdoes the melodrama, thereby turning Sister Aloysius into more of a stock figure than she ultimately seemed onstage”

Anne Thompson is more forgiving, saying, “Streep–who definitely adds more nuance and character details to the role as written—the Academy actors should reward Streep for this, and Viola Davis in supporting, for just one bravura scene. With the actors behind it and impeccable production credits the movie is a strong contender, even though it’s small, for best picture, adapted screenplay, actress, supporting actress, and music.”

Kirk Honeycutt, “However one reacts to this reversal of expectations, “Doubt” sets off dramatic fireworks thanks to a cast of antagonists that includes Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. The Miramax Films release should find receptive adult audiences after it opens December 12, and could get an added boost when award-season honors trickle in. Nevertheless, the film will have its doubters.”

More enthusiastic than the rest, Jeffrey Wells thinks it is definitely Best Picture material, “There’s so much to be said for a contained and compressed high-pedigree drama that does exactly what it intends to do, and is very content with this. A film without lunging, stumbles or missteps. Doubt doesn’t waste a frame or a line or a single shot, and it leaves you hanging in just the right way. That is to say it disturbs and agitates without resorting to easy catharsis. A play this well served isn’t just a play well served. It morphs into something else — a dramatic life form of its own.”

And on Streep, seeing as he basically echoes others thoughts on the supporting actors, “The genius of Streep’s performance is that you can take her work as dead straight drama component or a hoot, depending on your mood or attitude. What counts is that you can sit there and read her each and every second. There’s never any doubt what she’s thinking, intuiting, suspecting.”

Talk about a mixed bag. Despite McCarthy’s write-off of Streep, which I am not sure whether or not to take too seriously, there is very little doubt in my mind that “Doubt” won’t live up to the Oscar pedigree label it has received at this point and I am still itching like before to watch these four brilliant actors giving it their all in what is quite possibly the casting “Holy Grail” of 2008 if there is one.