Review by Marty Mapes

Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) tries to drive out the new priest in town, Father Brendan (Philip Seymour Hoffman). She suspects him of starting an inappropriate relationship with a boy.

The boy's mother tells Sister Aloysius that her son needs a father figure because his father is disgusted by his homosexual tendencies. Father Brendan is happy to be a father figure, but whether he wants the boy that way is an open question. Hoffman's history of playing sexually dubious characters makes him a great choice for the role, because, as the very title tells us, we will never know whether the accusations against Father Brendan are true.

Some stagey aspects of this drama don't play as well on the big screen. The look is stagey. The dialogue is wordy and stilted and heavy with belabored metaphors. In the scene of highest drama, Sister Aloysius and and Father Brendan try to upstage each other using props and lighting.

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