Thrills and intrigue not up to the genre

Sin Eater

Sin Eater
Stars Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon and Mark Addy. Rated M.
Reviewer: Lt Simone Heyer

Sin Eater sounds ominous, but it isn’t as thrilling as its thriller genre title suggests.

Alex (Ledger) belongs to a dwindling order of Catholic priests. When his mentor is found dead, Alex and fellow priest Thomas, (Addy) the last of a secret order, are called in to investigate and, if necessary, deal with the situation.

Mara, a girl who turns up at Alex’s church was recently put away for trying to kill Alex during an exorcism.

She decides to follow Alex to Rome to investigate the death. Alex’s gang sets about studying the dead priest’s body and researching the strange markings found on his chest.

Their suspicions are backed up when a cardinal gives them secret information about a sin eater, an immortal who takes on the sins of people who have been excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

But who can kill a sin eater to avenge a loved one's death? And there starts the intrigue.

Sin Eater looks into the dark secret under-world often associated with the Vatican. It looks at dark, supernatural dealings you think may go on away from day-light and normal human goings on; underneath cities and in the shadows. It's a great watch.

Lulu on the Bridge

Lulu on the Bridge
Stars Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, Mandy Patinkin and Willem Dafoe. Rated M
Reviewer: Lt Simone Heyer

Sometimes a film can be so art house it’s obscure. Lulu on the Bridge is one of these films. On the back of the DVD it sounds promising enough; full of intrigue, suspense, love and all that.

Not so. It starts off with a bang – literally – when Izzy (Keitel), a jazz musician, is shot. His music career is over and he must pull his life together and get out there again.

When he finds a dead man in the street and steals his briefcase, he’s lead to Celia (Sorvino). The two come together despite a huge age difference over a glowing magical rock.

When they decide they're inseparable, they are of course seperated, and then one of them commits suicide.

Lulu on the Bridge has an unexplainable empty scene for every strong, intriguing scene. Just when you think it's time to turn it off, something interesting happens.

But in all, it's a pointless film where not even the direction, cast or original idea saves it.