Rating: 
Summary: Out Of Order
Review: It didn't fully hit me until after viewing this film that I was utterly confused by it. I rather enjoyed watching it; the look was dark and moody, the pace was quick enough, and the subject matter was interesting. However, what is "The Order"? Is it the group Heath Ledger belongs to? No, it can't be. There are only two of them, and that makes a couple (Hardly an Order). Is it the freaky-deaky underground cult? Could be, but they're so muddled and sparsely placed throughout that they come across as more of an afterthought than a central part of the plot.
The subject is promising, but this film is a bit unfocused and out of order.
Rating: 
Summary: Blasphemy
Review: "The Order" is one of the most boring movies ever made. I didn't think it could get any worse than "Cold Creek Manor," but I was wrong. It's sad to say that the menu screen of the movie is the best part of the movie. That shows you that the rest of the movie stinks. The Sin Eater likes to put bread on a sinner's body and the bread relinquishes the soul of all iniquities. That's as interesting as the gum on my shoes. Heath Ledger looks gauche in a role that was meant for a fossil. Shannyn Sossamon is very misplaced as an exorcised patient of the hero. Everything else in this movie is blah! Never again will I watch this movie. I'd rather watch Jean-Claude Van Damme's "The Order" for something more purifying.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark and mysterious!!!
Review: This movie was excellent. It had good acting and a good plot. The only thing that was unexpected with this movie was the ending. I didn't expect Alex to turn into the Sin Eater. The part I liked the most was when Alex was burying Dominic and the two demonic like orphans came to try and stop Alex.Again this movie was very mysterious and dark.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, my turn
Review: 4.5 so I'm rounding up.
As I recall the term Carolingian is probably Matrix talk -- remember the French "Marvingian?" That's historical, and French, having to do with the Jesus post-resurrection blood line. You know the story there probably. Actually you'd be surprised to find out just how historical in theme this thing is. It's mythified (I haven't spent a lot of hours figuring out the details yet but I may) certainly as to the plot -- you have basically a vampire-mix with a highly sophisticated anti-Catholic (sorry) patter based on in fact real-life incompatible forces within the real-life church and those who have over the centuries been persecuted for various heresies. No joke there. Anyway, look, if you like scary movies and are a believer, this will probably rock you. If you don't like God or any of that -- it's not your type. But it is certified real except for one thing: while the Vatican in 300AD was staffed with more than 300 full time exorcists -- (point of trivia) -- the master of evil and Ghost Busters stuff is juvenile. But compared to anything else it tows the line of tasty scary. That and (if you watch the deleted scenes) any super-Reike type practitioner can do what this "sin-eater" does without needing a baby-chaser. (Those who were confused by the shortened storyline should turn out the lights and turn off the stereo when you watch because nobody could have figured out this deleted scene. It's strictly vampire.) Loved it. Am giving one to all my close friends & relatives so they'll think about their religion more.
Rating: 
Summary: a film written by someone with ADD
Review: Well, I think most people thought the movie looked at very least a little cool from the previews. But, as was said before, it's as if the preview was for a completely different film. What this film suffers from is a severe lack of background info and an attention span of 2 seconds. It flits from topic to topic without ever giving insight as to what's really going on. Even the "plot twist" at the end was a wasted effort as I never had a clue what was going on to begin with. A plot twist is supposed to make you think one thing and then throw you for a loop. This movie can't stick to topic long enough for you to make even semi-valid predictions. Thus, no plot twist. Gotta have a plot to twist. Ironically, a couple of the deleted scenes would have clarified some things. My room-mate's girl-friend said it best with: "The writer suffered from knowing the story so well that he forgot that the audience doesn't know it until you tell it to them." He was constantly explaining away deleted scenes by saying the point was already completely clear, thus the scenes were redundant. Could have been a great movie, but sadly, it just didn't live up to its potential.
Rating:
Summary: Not What I Expected
Review: I suppose I expected a little more from this film after seeing the previews. When I rented this film I expected something of a more supernatural tale (And a better written story!) The end of this film left me feeling that there needed to be a little more, and I don't mean that in the sense that I didn't want it to end. I mean to say that this film leaves you hanging and feeling that you spent your time watching a film without a complete conclusion, and not in a manner which would lend itself well to a sequel. In my opinion, a few tweaks of the plot would have made this movie all that more exciting and satisfying! Enough about the story...
The acting perhaps was the finer point of this film, with Heath Ledger delivering a capable interpretation of a priest from a disappearing religious clan. The supporting actors and actresses also did a fine job portraying their characters.
Overall, I give this film 2 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Long on possibility. Short on delivery.
Review: The movie had such potential to highlight the struggle between good and evil and all the effects there-of. It had the capability to deal with a subject matter (demonology) that is often ignored by most churches and religions in "educated" societies; but rather than show such a battle, the movie chooses to bash the Catholic church and leave viewers scratching their heads going, "HUH?" All in all, rent it. Don't buy it.
Rating:
Summary: A NeoGnostic Vatican Conspiracy/Occult Thriller.
Review: _The Order_ is an excellent thriller movie which deals with certain folk practices surrounding the Roman Catholic Church as well as some of the secret influence behind the Vatican. In this movie, "the Order" refers to a secret (entirely fictional) Catholic order called the Carolingians which is supposed to have "surpassed even the Jesuits" in its quest for knowledge and its flirtation with heresy. Of course, the Jesuit order is well known for producing many exorcists and psychologists as well as for flirting with heresy (routinely being accused of Protestantism and/or unorthodox belief, as well as tampering with earthly governments and kingly courts, and previously suppressed in its history by Pope Clement XIV in 1773, although later reestablished, and today often accused of modernism, liberalism, or worse). However, the idea that the Jesuits constitute a sort of secret society on the same level as the freemasons for example is simply incorrect. While the Jesuit order founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola maintains a code of strict obedience to a superior (argued by critics to involve obedience even unto commission of sin, though in reality never demanding that one sin) and ultimately to the head of the order (sometimes referred to facetiously as "the black pope", based on his black robes - not to be confused with the "dark pope", a pagan imposter, vying for the real papacy who appears in the movie as a fictional character), the Jesuits do not demand the kind of secret oaths which masonry demands calling for disembowelment, dismemberment, and the removal of the tongue should one reveal the secrets of the "brethren". Thus, in this sense the movie relies on certain antiCatholic hysteria in propagating its understanding of the secret order the Carolingians (which in fact does not exist) though supposedly based upon the Jesuits. The movie focusses on a certain character known as the "sin eater" who is supposedly immortal, till a special rite is performed releasing him from his position and creating a new sin eater. According to the movie, the sin eater operates outside the church which maintains a strict interpretation of "Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus" ("outside the church there is no salvation") as a sort of secondary way to enter the Kingdom of God (i.e. heaven) at one's death. The movie suggests that the notion of the sin eater was created when Christ through a special grace gave forgiveness to the "good thief" on the Cross thus allowing him to enter heaven, even though he had not belonged to the Church proper. In reality, there were men called sin eaters living in the Middle Ages (particularly in England) operating outside the church as a sort of folklore among the populace and "eating a man's sins" by taking a piece of bread off the body of a dying man. Perhaps, the practice of sin eating originated in towns where the plague was particularly violent and access to priests was difficult, or in countries which had been placed under interdict thus not allowing access to the sacraments. The sin eater was often a very rich man taking as a sort of death tax the most precious object he could find in the dying man's house, and upon "eating the sins" of the dying man would take them upon himself, thus releasing the man from sin and allowing him to enter the Kingdom of God. However, according to folklore the sin eater was not immortal (as the movie suggests). Rather, at death, the sin eater himself would try to find another sin eater (often his eldest sin) to eat his sins, thus furthering the chain. Otherwise, the sin eater would be damned. (Oddly, one wonders how this would continue through generations as each subsequent sin eater would be quite full of the sins of the last, till eventual overflow.) According to the movie, the sin eater works for a secret society, run by the "dark pope" - a sort of mysterious pagan imposter (satanic involute of the true pope) vying for the papal chair. While secret societies and papal poisonings have always surrounded the Vatican hierarchy, particularly in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, when power was consolidated within certain elite families, but perhaps also as late as Pope John Paul I, who died in a rather mysterious fashion which some have suggested may have involved foul play, these serpents should not be confused with the church proper. In fact, for example, the church has always condemned freemasonry (though often infiltrated by its members at high levels) which is such a secret initiatic society. The movie also makes reference to the poetry of English Romantic John Keats including his "Ode to a Grecian Urn" ("beauty is truth, truth beauty") and "Ode to a Nightingale" (which plays a part in the "illness"/possession of the female character Mara). Despite its many errors in fact and its obvious antiCatholic slant, the movie does provide a good thriller movie which will prove entertaining to all who watch it. Featuring a rogue priest who is initiated when he performs a burial outside the church's proper jurisdiction, the movie examines the conflicts of a priest burdened with esoteric knowledge. If you have enjoyed books such as _Foucault's Pendulum_ by Umberto Eco or conspiracy type thrillers in general with occult ideas, this movie will interest you, particularly if you like to take a look at the darker side of human life.
Rating:
Summary: A great deal of wasted potential.
Review: The Order (Brian Helgeland, 2003) There are so many people involved with this film who need to have the question "what the hell were you thinking?" asked to them. The idea is fantastic. The head of an order of priests, Father Dominic (Francesco Carnelluti) is found dead in his apartment, leaving only two living priests in his sect, Alex (Heath Ledger, with whom Helgeland previously worked in A Knight's Tale) and Thomas (Mark Addy, who will forever be remembered as "the fat guy" from The Full Monty). The two of them, accompanied by a woman (Shannyn Sossamon) Alex has conflicting feelings about, travel to Rome on the orders of a high-ranking cardinal (Robocop's Peter Weller) to investigate Dominic's death, and along the way uncover a number of strange and wonderful things, including the last living Sin Eater, William Eden (Benno Furmann, who will be playing Siegfried in the upcoming film version of The Ring of the Nibelungs), who is in some way intimately connected with Dominic's death. It all sounds fabulous on paper. And, to an extent, it is. But various factors kill the movie. Both Weller and Furmann deliver their lines as if someone told them, "sound as artificial as possible." Weller might as well still have the metal suit on. And the odd pair of "orphans" who hang around outside Dominic's apartment; I'm sure that, in a director's cut, we'd have some concrete idea of why they hang around Dominic, but a hypothesis is offered, and then the plot thread disappears into the distance, never to be heard from again. One rather expects a level of ludicrousness from Ledger, Sossamon, and Helgeland, who between them were responsible for A Knight's Tale a few years back. This, however, goes beyond silly. It borders on brilliant, but stays just this side of bad. Which makes it seem even worse. ** ½
Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful, dark and delightful.
Review: Alex (Heath Ledger) a rebellious priest from a disappearing fringe of Catholicism goes to Rome to determine the cause of the mysterious death of Dominic, his excommunicated mentor. He is accompanied in his quest by Mara (Shannyn Sossamon), a troubled love who just escaped an institution for the mentally ill and by Thomas (Mark Addy), the other living priest of his church. Together and with the help of a Cardinal (Peter Weller) and a murky and devious character named Chirac, he discovers that a Sin Eater, a person capable of absorbing someone else's sins thus granting them entry to the kingdom of Heaven over God's back, was behind the death of Dominic. When the church refuses Dominic a burial in holy ground, Alex, who is supposed to kill the Sin Eater under the Cardinal's suggestion, is instead lured by him to find the truth and understand the meaning of what he does. Then the conflict between Alex's beliefs and desires begins. This movie has a well-assembled cast (some returning actors from Brian Helgeland's previous movie A Knight's Tale) and great acting throughout, specially from Ledger and Weller. It has a tight-written, coherent script with wonderful character interactions, great moody music and very-well placed and never overdone special effects. The best thing this movie offers though, is a subconscious lingering question about the darkness that surrounds us, be it as sin, demons, or other supernatural beings. In this regard this movie is more suspenseful and scarier than the best of horror movies. Watch it, pay attention and enjoy.
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