Straight out of the film noir cannon.

Completely pulled me out of the story every single time.

The director justifies it in an interview:

This is a very foursquare story by and large, and if you put a dutch angle in the middle of a lot of foursquare work, it hits you. I mean, if you go and look at SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, it probably has ten times the amount of dutch angles as [DOUBT], but you don’t notice because they’re doing it all throughout the film. But when I do it, I’m saying, “I’m doing this for a reason.” And it’s a very strong reason that has to do with this particular moment in the story. It’s not simply visual stylization; it has a visceral effect. Some people like it and some people don’t, but everybody feels it. It hits you.