BY AUDREY MORIARTY

Special to The Pilot

"Doubt," the award-winning movie adaptation of director John Patrick Stanley's award-winning play, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, plays at the Sunrise Theater Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, March 11-13, at 7:30 p.m.

Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) is the firm and steely-eyed principal of St. Nicholas Middle School in the Bronx, in 1964. She is proud of her strict adherence to the discipline and customs that are rapidly becoming outdated. She is mentoring young and inexperienced Sister James (Amy Adams), and finds herself at odds with the likeable and energetic parish priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Father Flynn is progressive and anxious to introduce change, and the opportunity arises when the school accepts its first black student, Donald Miller. Father Flynn takes an interest in Donald, encouraging him to take part in sports, and appoints him as an altar boy. Sister Aloysius sees her authority threatened, and when Father Flynn gives a sermon about doubt, she decides that he is hiding something, and asks Sister James to keep an eye on him and to look for any unusual or strange behavior. Sister James discovers that Father Flynn has seen Donald alone, in the rectory, and suspects the child of having been drinking; she reports to Sister Aloysius, who begins a campaign to get rid of Father Flynn.

We never see or find out what transpired in the rectory, and there is no evidence of wrong-doing, but the film is about doubt -- uncertainty, skepticism. As Roger Ebert states, "The conflict between Aloysius and Flynn is the conflict between old and new, between status and change, between infallibility and uncertainty."

"Doubt" was nominated for five SAGS, five Golden Globes, six Critic's Choice Awards and a slew of Oscars, with Streep, Hoffman, and Adams receiving top nominations, as well as Viola Davis, who gives an outstanding performance as Donald's mother.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, "Doubt" is one hour and 44 minutes long, and plays March 11-13. All shows will be evenings at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults, and $5 for children under 12. The movies are commercial-free. Beer, wine, bottled water, sodas, candy, nuts and popcorn with real butter are available.

The Sunrise Theater is located at 250 NW Broad Street in Southern Pines.

For more information, call (910) 692-3611 or visit www.sunrisetheater.com.