The Order

Starring: Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Benno Furmann, Mark Addy, Peter Weller
Directed by: Brian Helgeland
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery
2003

Times Seen:
Tim: 2


Summary: A priest (Heath Ledger) investigates the rumor of a strange man called a "sin eater"- a man who forgives sin outside of the church.

Review:

Tim: This movie was right up my alley. It stars Heath Ledger and is a supernatural thriler with religious overtones. I should have loved it. Unfortunately, the movie is a gigantic mess, which renders it nearly unwatchable (that's a slight exaggeration, but still...)

Heath Ledger is fairly good as a young priest on the edge of the Catholic Church. I did enjoy watching him in this film. I didn't enjoy Shannyn Sossamon. I am just not a fan of her at all, and this film only furthered that belief. Benno Furmann is surprisingly good as the Sin Eater. I did enjoy his performance.

The plot is a mess- it is far too complex (not in a good way) and several scenes border on absurd. The movie swerves back and forth between being good and being terrible. It never stays in one place, and as a result, the movie is choppy and doesn't flow well. The film manages to put a fairly impressive conclusion, but by that point, it has alienated its audience to such an extent that it doesn't really matter.

This is the type of film I almost automatically like. To say that I was grossly disappointed says quite a bit about the quality of the movie. While there are a few things to certainly like, the majority of the movie doesn't live up to its potential. This isn't a good movie. The Order does too much wrong, too little right, and as a result, this movie is a mess.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Da Vinci Code, The Exorcist, The Omen