Catholic priest Father Alex (Heath Ledger) belongs to the secret order of Carolingians - a near-extinct group dedicated to the extermination of evil. Following the death of mentor Father Dominic (Francesco Carnelutti), Alex leaves New York for Rome to investigate. Accompanied by troubled artist Mara (Shannyn Sossamon), with whom he shares a troubled past, Alex reunites with his best friend and fellow Carolingian, Father Thomas (Mark Addy). The trio soon discover that the death of Father Dominic was the work of The Sin Eater (Benno Fürmann), an immortal who assumes the sins of the deceased. As Alex's relationship with Mara intensifies, he and Thomas move closer to the truth behind The Sin Eater.

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The director and stars who brought us the ridiculous but entertaining A Knight's Tale have reunited for the simply ridiculous The Sin Eater. This non-scary piece of religious mumbo-jumbo is destined for a brief run in cinemas before disappearing to DVD shelves alongside countless other Exorcist wannabes. Things don't start well as the voice of Father Alex (Heath Ledger) solemnly informs us that "every life is a riddle - the answer to mine is a knowledge born of darkness".

Unfortunately, this Catholic evil-buster's descent into darkness beneath the streets of Rome fails to generate any suspense from a premise that promises so much. The idea of the last surviving members of a secret church society hunting down an unauthorised agent who absorbs the sins of those who are about to die is a juicy one but in Helgeland's shaky writing and directorial hands it doesn't convince for a minute. A large part of the problem is the casting of Heath Ledger and rising German star Benno Fürmann as the duelling protagonists. Sporting almost identical "groovy young man" facial hair stylings, these performers seem way too young for their roles and the dialogue they mumble almost incoherently is mind-numbingly awful at times. "I am the conductor of the midnight train" is just one of the Sin Eater's dialogue clunkers in a screenplay that makes the death metal rants of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath seem profound by comparison.

One can't help but wonder how effective the tale might have been with an intelligent script and lead actors who don't look like they've just finished high school. As we expect in any movie revolving around a handsome Catholic priest, there's a foxy babe on the sidelines just waiting to lead him into a crisis of faith. In this case it's Ledger's A Knight's Tale co-star Shannyn Sossamon as the disturbed Mara. She's had the hots for the hunky man of the cloth ever since he...wait for it...performed an exorcism on her.

Never mind that she tried to kill him and has just escaped from a psychiatric institution - love means never having to say you're sorry about attempted homicide here. With Peter Weller also poncing about as a wicked Cardinal out to snatch the Papacy by whatever devious means it takes, The Sin Eater seals its doom by taking itself far too seriously and failing to deliver the substance or cohesion to make good on the promise. Even when it tries to inject a little humour it falls flat, with Mark Addy's boisterous Father Thomas coming across like an excommunicated member of the Holy Order of Comic Relief. Long-winded discussions between Ledger's confused cleric and Fürmann's immortal veer between dull and pretentious and the ending ranks as one of the most ludicrous and incompetently handled "double-whammys" I've seen in a long time. The worst sin movie goers can commit is parting with hard-earned cash to witness this barrage of biblical baloney.

SIN EATER, THE (MA)

(US) aka The Order

CAST: Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Benno Furman, Mark Addy, Peter Weller, Francesco Carnelutti

PRODUCER: Craig Baumgarten, Brian Helgeland

DIRECTOR: Brian Helgeland

SCRIPT: Brian Helgeland

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Nicola Pecorini

EDITOR: Kevin Stitt

MUSIC: David Tom

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Miljen Kreka Kljakovic

RUNNING TIME: 102 minutes

DVD DISTRIBUTOR: Fox Entertainment

DVD RELEASE: May 26, 2004