Brian Helgeland the director has given us this film, A KNIGHT'S TALE and Mel Gibson's PAYBACK. Helgeland the writer has given us MYSTIC RIVER and LA CONFIDENTIAL. Maybe he should stick to writing, as his screenplay for this movie is so shoddily written, it makes the film incoherent, dull, laughable and ultimately unsatisfying.Helgeland has reunited three of his stars from A KNIGHTS TALE: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy and Shannon Sossamyn. Ledger and Sossamyn have the looks to be stars; Addy has the buddy support syndrome down pretty pat.Now, what this film is about ultimately is a person called a "Sin Eater." This mysterious figure eats the sins of those who have been ostracized or condemned by the church, but one never knows whether this is a good or bad character. Helgeland's script also numbs this. The inclusion of the little boy and girl demons is never explained; there are some really dull sequences and the strange bar in the Vatican wholly incredible.Peter Weller's bald cardinal wants to be Pope is also poorly written and mediocrally performed.Ledger has one very effective scene that occurs with the apparent suicide of his love. It's the strongest acting moment in the film.Sossamyn is beautiful for sure, and plays her strange part rather well (why did she try to kill Ledger? It's never fully explained).Addy and Ledger's chemistry is not as effective as it was in Knight's Tale.In this time of troubles for the Catholic Church, a film like THE ORDER will certainly not benefit their credence in the religious community. Ledger's fall from grace likewise paints a poor portrait of the clergy.THE ORDER is not a horrible film, but it's not all that great either.