Out at the Movies: "Doubt," "Wendy and Lucy"

The Broadway hit Doubt leaps to the big screen in limited release today, and its four principal actors (including Meryl Streep, above) have already racked up Golden Globe nominations for their performances. Plus, Brokeback Mountain star Michelle Williams shines in the quiet indie Wendy and Lucy.

More after the jump!

In Doubt, Streep stars as Sister Aloysius, an old-school nun who distrusts all traces of modernity, from ball-point pens to secular Christmas carols like "Frosty the Snowman." (Her cranky tyranny makes Aloysius seems like a parochial spin on Streep's Miranda Priestley character from The Devil Wears Prada.) She naturally comes into conflict with Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a seemingly kind-hearted priest who embodies all the Vatican II changes that the 1964 Catholic Church is experiencing.

When Sister James (Amy Adams) reports to Aloysius her suspicions about Father Flynn's possibly improper relationship with their school's only African-American student, the older nun goes on the warpath, setting out to destroy Father Flynn with only her certainty, and no real proof of wrongdoing, to guide her.

Viola Davis has an extraordinary turn as the boy's mother, and while director John Patrick Shanley overdoes the theatrics in bringing his own play to the screen, Doubt makes for a compelling night at the movies. (Of course, if you know the play, you know why this film is of specific interest to queer audiences, but explaining it here would count as a spoiler, so just take our word for it.)

This weekend's other limited-release must-see is Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams as a destitute young woman trying to drive to Alaska to find work, only to get stuck in a small town in the Pacific Northwest when she's separated from her beloved dog.

Director Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy) is a masterful minimalist; there's not tons of plot here, and Williams doesn't get a lot of dialogue, but it's compelling filmmaking all the same. And if there was any doubt at this point, Williams proves she's one of the most exciting young film actresses working today.