MOVIE - "The Reader" (in theaters now, nominated for "Best Picture")
Rating: (scale of 5) - *****
Reviewed by: Mike Morgan

The Reader is a gripping drama that seeks to address the ethically complicated question: How far would you go to protect a secret? The backdrop of the narrative is Nazi Germany and the related horrors committed in the concentration camps and gas chambers. Ordinary people find themselves caught in highly ambiguous situations, and unwitting decisions and choices can have momentous consequences on their lives. This is a story of "coming of age" in a highly charged and politically shifting era. The acting is superb, the casting is adept, the sex is gratuitous (and frankly rather boring), while the message at the end of the film is open-ended (much like Jesus' parables). Watching this film in the theater is a challenge to keeping one's emotions in check. Thankfully, the theater remains dark.

MOVIE - "Doubt" (in theaters now)
Rating: (scale of 5) - *****
Reviewed by: Carol Boyle

This brilliantly acted film version of John Patrick Shanley's 2004 Tony-winning Broadway play, Doubt, stars Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It takes place in a Catholic grade school in Brooklyn in 1964. The depiction of time and place are so evocative and spot on, you'll find yourself sitting up, hands folded. Those who have been to Catholic school will know what I mean. The principal, Sister Aloysius (Streep), suspects that the parish priest (Hoffman) is having an unwholesome relationship with one of the students, the only African-American boy in the school. At one level the film revolves around this issue, so timely in view of recent events. But this film is gripping on many levels. It depicts a period in the Church when Vatican II was unleashing deep philosophical and theological differences between old Church, represented by Sister Aloysius and her certainty, and the new Church, represented by the more human Father Flynn. The young novice, beautifully played by Amy Adams, is caught in an abyss of doubt (as we are) between the two main characters. Another whole level of meaning emerges when Sister Aloysius meets with the young boy's mother, movingly played by Viola Davis. This very satisfying film leaves us with issues to ponder - and doubt.