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BY PETER KEOUGH
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As if the child-abuse scandals weren’t bad enough, now the Catholic Church has to contend with the Sin Eater (Benno Fürmann). In Brian Helgeland’s The Order, those sinners who have been excommunicated or plan to commit an unforgivable sin like suicide or making a film like this one can have recourse to this heretical entity, a source of absolution outside the official Church. Kind of makes a joke of the whole process, but it’s not bad work if you can get it, since it guarantees near-immortality and lame special effects (swirling mucus comes to mind) every time the rite is performed. To counter this threat, the Church calls on the sexiest priest in Christendom, Father Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger), a member of the mysterious Carolingian Order, which is dedicated to fighting the "undead and demonic." When the Carolingian head is found dead, apparently at the Sin Eater’s hands, Father Bernier, his Friar Tuckish sidekick, Thomas (Mark Addy), and his mentally ill groupie, Mara (Shannyn Sossamon), head for Rome armed with holy water and parchment fragments. But as the Sin Eater notes in one gnomic moment (the film is much better when it quotes Nietzsche or Keats), the trouble with seeking the truth is that you sometimes find it. The truth about The Order — despite a camp turn by Peter Weller as a cardinal and some kinky set designs — is that it’s a sinful waste of time. (102 minutes)
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