A young nun teacher observed a strange bond developed between a black student and the Father (Philip Semour Hoffman) of the church, coupled with some strange behavior. She told her superior, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), rather casually without much conviction. But Sister Aloysius was convinced that there had been an inappropriate relationship. Without seeking evidences, she convinced the Father to resign and transfer after his putting up a big fight.

It’s amazing to me that a series of coincidences (the child’s alcohol breath, Father’s returning of the child’s underwear, the caring gesture of the Father toward the boy) can be easily construed as circumstantial evidences against the Father. With them, System Aloysius convinced herself of his bad deed and fought him to the nail without seeking more evidences. To me, this is a tragedy biased by the past abuses of power in the church – you’re guilty until proven innocent. In the name of protecting the children, people are more than willing to crucify the good people. Isn’t it how Jesus was crucified? How ironic!

Both Hoffman and Meryl Streep are excellent in this movie. The conversation between Meryl and the mother of the boy was quit uncomfortable to watch; a mother was willing to trade an abusive, unloving father for a pedophile, as the principle accused the Father to be, just because he’s nicer. What a trade off: whichever is less of the evil!

I have learned that it’s important to check and double-check to test your belief before accusing someone of the grave sin/crime. So many people have been hurt because of some people’s imprudence. Like the metaphor in the movie, the feathers letting out of a pillow are very hard to collect and fix.

The end of the world is near, thanks for the huge solar flare and alignments of the planets within the Solar system which cracked the crust of earth and cause huge tectonic plate shifts and big time tsunami. The movie is about a man’s struggle (John Cusak, a philosopher with a full-time chauffeur job for a Russian billionaire) to save his family and the heads of the countries to save only selective people with wealth and power from the world destruction. Several giant ships like Noah’s ark were built in China (probably due to their cost-effective manufacturing prowess) to maintain human civilization. The only interesting moral topic to consider is the trade offs in selecting the people to bring in the ark. The reality plays out as only the powerful and the wealthy (over $1B) get to enter the salvation – not very Christian-like but it’s reality when God is not consulted in the decision-making process.

This is a no-brainer movie with lots of computer graphics involving volcanic, earthquake, car chases, tsunami, airplane, cruise ship, the big ark ship and etc. No bad for people who are into computer-graphics movies. And I did enjoy it, which kept me awake one hour past my bed time. This is the kind of movie to pick you up when there are things that really bother you at work and at home.