I saw two movies yesterday dealing with moral ambiguity in different settings: "Doubt," set within the confines of a Catholic parish in the early 60s and "Cadillac Records," which takes place in the music business during roughly the same period. Both were excellent films, engrossing and challenging on several levels, and both caused me to examine my own beliefs about right and wrong and my reactions to what occurred in the stories presented. "Doubt" is of course a big Hollywood award contender, but "Cadillac" is equally as powerful and accomplished.
I have to single out one performance in each film out of uniformly superb casts. In "Doubt," Viola Davis, usually seen in grim television police procedurals, is astounding as the mother of a young boy who may or may not have been molested by his priest, riveting and commanding. The play of emotions that wash over her face and in her eyes is amazing, and that same ability to reveal the inside of a character on the outside is also Beyonce Knowles' feat in her recreation of blues/jazz/rock singer, Etta James, in her early recording career days. Any thoughts of Knowles as a cookie cutter r&b diva or smart stunt casting to draw in a young audience will be immediately dispelled watching her transformation into the messy, conflicted force of nature that was James, particularly back then. There are two scenes in particular which are done quietly in tight close up of her face responding to something Adrien Brody as her mentor/lover, Leonard Chess, is saying that are as brilliant moments of acting as I have seen all year.
And, oh yeah, she sings the hell out of those Etta James standards, too, so all the purists can breathe normally.
Do not miss either performance. I expect to see both nominated for Academy Awards.
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