The Order (2003)
2/4
Starring: Heath Ledger, Benno Furmann, Mark Addy, Shannyn Sossamon, Peter Weller
Rated R for Violent Images, Sexuality, and Language
not to be confused with the 2001 flick starring Jean-Claude Van Damme
"The Order" is bizarre. Not so much in terms of its plot (although no one will call it conventional), but because so awkwardly constructed. It's unfocused and suffers from erratic pacing. And the script could have used some rewrites too. But the real reason is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. A psychological thriller with elements of the supernatural? A character study? A morality play? A special-effects geared horror movie? Writer/director/producer Brian Helgeland doesn't know, and the result is a weird tale, although not necessarily a successful one.
Alex Bernier (Ledger) is a priest of the Carolingian order, a dying group of priests whose obsessive search for knowledge has made them outsiders among the Catholic Church. The head of his order, Dominic (Francesco Carnelutti) has just died, and although it was said to be suicide (a mortal sin in the Catholic Church), Alex quickly realizes that he was murdered. The investigation with the only other remaining member of his order, Thomas Garrett (Addy), puts him on the trail of a Sin Eater, who can take away the sins of the unrepentant (even immortal sins), thus getting them into Heaven when they shouldn't.
The film's biggest problem is that the premise of the plot simply doesn't work. Not only does it fly in the face of the basic tenent of Christianity, it makes the mistake of making the villain seem much more good than the "good" guys. When we side with the villain, the conflict becomes moot.
The acting isn't the problem, although considering the mess of a screenplay that the actors are working with, that's praiseworthy. Heath Ledger is effective as the intense and conflicted priest, although this isn't his best performance (that distinction would go to his role as Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain" or The Joker in "The Dark Knight," take your pick). There's just not enough for him to work with. Benno Furmann acts alternately sinister and sympathetic, depending on what the situation calls for. Shannyn Sossamon and Mark Addy are wasted in thankless roles. Peter Weller is only on for two or three scenes.
Because he is the writer, director and producer, most (if not all) of the film's problems have to be laid at the feet of Brian Helgeland. Looking on his profile on iMDb, I can't find many of his projects to get psyched up about. "Green Zone" was ehhh. "Mystic River" and especially "L.A. Confidential" were grossly overrated. Only "Man on Fire" managed to entertain to any real level.
Helgeland's skills are mainly known for writing, although he did direct "Payback" (which was reviled in test screenings and forced the studio to make drastic reshoots...which didn't help matters), "A Knight's Tale" (also starring Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon and Mark Addy, and was also critically reviled) and this year's "42," which was unseen by me, although going on advance word, it was supposed to be solid at best). As evidenced here, he needs to work on both. There's no reason this couldn't have worked with better handling. It's an intriguing idea, but it needed some radical reworking in order to be an effective story.
The film isn't terrible, I'll give it that. The film has some effectively creepy scenes and I was kind of curious as to where it was going. But in the end, it isn't worth your time.
Starring: Heath Ledger, Benno Furmann, Mark Addy, Shannyn Sossamon, Peter Weller
Rated R for Violent Images, Sexuality, and Language
not to be confused with the 2001 flick starring Jean-Claude Van Damme
"The Order" is bizarre. Not so much in terms of its plot (although no one will call it conventional), but because so awkwardly constructed. It's unfocused and suffers from erratic pacing. And the script could have used some rewrites too. But the real reason is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. A psychological thriller with elements of the supernatural? A character study? A morality play? A special-effects geared horror movie? Writer/director/producer Brian Helgeland doesn't know, and the result is a weird tale, although not necessarily a successful one.
Alex Bernier (Ledger) is a priest of the Carolingian order, a dying group of priests whose obsessive search for knowledge has made them outsiders among the Catholic Church. The head of his order, Dominic (Francesco Carnelutti) has just died, and although it was said to be suicide (a mortal sin in the Catholic Church), Alex quickly realizes that he was murdered. The investigation with the only other remaining member of his order, Thomas Garrett (Addy), puts him on the trail of a Sin Eater, who can take away the sins of the unrepentant (even immortal sins), thus getting them into Heaven when they shouldn't.
The film's biggest problem is that the premise of the plot simply doesn't work. Not only does it fly in the face of the basic tenent of Christianity, it makes the mistake of making the villain seem much more good than the "good" guys. When we side with the villain, the conflict becomes moot.
The acting isn't the problem, although considering the mess of a screenplay that the actors are working with, that's praiseworthy. Heath Ledger is effective as the intense and conflicted priest, although this isn't his best performance (that distinction would go to his role as Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain" or The Joker in "The Dark Knight," take your pick). There's just not enough for him to work with. Benno Furmann acts alternately sinister and sympathetic, depending on what the situation calls for. Shannyn Sossamon and Mark Addy are wasted in thankless roles. Peter Weller is only on for two or three scenes.
Because he is the writer, director and producer, most (if not all) of the film's problems have to be laid at the feet of Brian Helgeland. Looking on his profile on iMDb, I can't find many of his projects to get psyched up about. "Green Zone" was ehhh. "Mystic River" and especially "L.A. Confidential" were grossly overrated. Only "Man on Fire" managed to entertain to any real level.
Helgeland's skills are mainly known for writing, although he did direct "Payback" (which was reviled in test screenings and forced the studio to make drastic reshoots...which didn't help matters), "A Knight's Tale" (also starring Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon and Mark Addy, and was also critically reviled) and this year's "42," which was unseen by me, although going on advance word, it was supposed to be solid at best). As evidenced here, he needs to work on both. There's no reason this couldn't have worked with better handling. It's an intriguing idea, but it needed some radical reworking in order to be an effective story.
The film isn't terrible, I'll give it that. The film has some effectively creepy scenes and I was kind of curious as to where it was going. But in the end, it isn't worth your time.
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