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Boring

Absolutely Fantastic

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

a good story. good performances. interesting construction, using historical and religious pieces for a moral lesson about sin, judgment and prices of the life. and the impeccable building of a way to the truth of a young monk, with precise duty, discovering obscure details from a Church who seems be perfect, old secrets and old rules, the beautiful work of Heath Ledger are virtues of a f seductive film, remembering Da Vinci Code but being more profound as sender of a too precise universal message.

The main problem with this film was its star -- Heath Ledger. Oh, don't get me wrong, before his death, Ledger had some solid performances under his belt, but this was not one of them. It isn't so much his acting here, which is satisfactory, but rather he is noticeably too young for the role. I suppose that's why they included the facial hair here, although he obviously wasn't much of a beard-grower, so the age thing just doesn't work at all. One of the most often said things about Ledger was that he showed great promise. For the most part, that promise was still to come, and certainly not achieved in this, his 9th credited film.The story is actually quite interesting. Is that there is another way to heaven than adherence to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church? Supposedly, a non-church Sin Eater can remove all taint of sin from a soul just before death, thus allowing ascension into heaven; but within the church, this belief is heretical. Ledger plays a disillusioned priest who is a member of a fictitious religious order which fights demons. His mentor has died in Rome, and while the church is attempting to paint it as a suicide, Ledger does not agree, particularly after he finds strange markings on the corpse. The symbols are that of a Sin Eater. The mentor had been excommunicated, but Ledger still buries him on sacred ground. Another priest of the same order, and a friend of Ledger's, arrives in Rome to help investigate the mentor's death. A female artist Ledger once exorcised, and who has escaped from a mental hospital, comes along for the ride, and at least in this iteration, she seems irrelevant or at least illogical. Peter Weller plays a sympathetic cardinal (or is he?), and gives Ledger a fancy dagger which must be plunged into the Sin Eater while reciting an Aramaic spell...which still must be found. And then, to be young and modern (after all, it's a Ledger film), they wander through a nightclub and an underground setting where the 'Black Pope' rules. Naturally, demons attack every once in a while, and to be honest, it gets kind of silly...though the special effects are quite good. Ledger meets the Sin Eater, who is a pretty interesting fellow who dates back to the time during with St. Peter's Cathedral was being built. As a result of their meeting, Ledger ends up having sex with the young woman...naturally, it's the hip Ledger's film. It turns out that the Sin Eater wants Ledger to take his place...and he won't take no for an answer. So, what to do? Kill the Sin Easter! Who wins? Ah, that is the question.In a sense, this film has a split personality...another reason it doesn't quite work. The movie was filmed in Italy, Paris, and New York, so the settings seem quite authentic and rather spectacular in many cases. Certain scenes -- such as when the Sin Eater is telling his background -- are quite spectacular. But then, since this is a Ledger film, there has to be a sex angle and pop movie-making, as well. So it kind of falls in between, and we are left a bit unsatisfied, as the ratings on IMDb show.Heath Ledger is "okay" here, but it sometimes seems as if he once attended the Mumbling School Of Acting. The better performance is by the Sin Eater -- Benno Fürmann, a German actor. Mark Addy does a nice job as the fellow priest.I wouldn't say not to watch this film, but it's barely meets the threshold of holding your serious attention.

These days, it's easy to see Heath Ledger's name on a film and assume it's going to be something special. Indeed, as a rule of thumb this formula is proved right more often than not. Sadly, though, The Sin Eater falls into the latter category – although it would be unfair to lay the blame at Ledger's feet. In fact, his turn is one of the few highlights of this movie. Another is the primary plot: a young, unconventional priest is sent by his Cardinal to the Vatican, where he is asked to look into the unexplained death of his friend and mentor. Along the way he uncovers evidence of the involvement of a "Sin Eater" – a figure from history who is said to offer an alternative route to redemption and therefore a path to Heaven which circumvents Catholic lore. It's a nice idea and it's given enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. There's a secondary story though, one of demons and exorcisms, and a tertiary one involving an unstable girl from the priest's past who forms the film's romantic interest. These appear extraneous and confusing, and require more explanation than the movie allows in its limited runtime. It's not a short film, but still it overreaches. The cast sees Ledger team up with Mark Addy and Shannyn Sossamon, and director Brian Helgeland, for the second time following their historical comedy A Knight's Tale. This plays less well than the 2001 offering. The usually capable Addy chews through some dubious dialogue with an even more dubious accent, yet still somehow salvages credibility. Sossamon's turn is somewhat superfluous, and the piece may have been better for her character's omission. Peter Weller makes a convincingly tough Cardinal, and Benno Furmann is suitably other- worldly as the supernatural antagonist. But the problems, for the most part, lay not with the cast: rather too much ground is made too soon, putting the viewer on the back foot from the off. The result is something that plays out like a sequel: it's taken for granted that we know the protagonists, when in fact we don't – and they remain strangers throughout. 2/5

"For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger), is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil and the terrifying knowledge that there is a fate worse than death," according to the official synopsis.Brian Helgeland's "The Order" features rich Roman locations. Alas, the story is very dull, and provides none of the thrills intended. At one point, Mr. Ledger and fellow man-of-the-cloth Mark Addy (as Thomas Garrett) question Ledger's priestly credentials as the men consider sleeping with Shannyn Sossamon (as Mara Sinclair). They've GOT to be kidding. The story picks up a little around the time Benno Fürmann (as William Eden) really makes the scene. Mr. Fürmann's Christ-like "Sin Eater" plight breathes some life into the storyline.**** The Order (9/5/03) Brian Helgeland ~ Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Benno Fürmann