Heavy handed, simplistic Christian message aside, this movie was more than just bad, it was awful. The script, like the book, was poorly conceived and written. The plot, contrived and incoherent. And the action, coy and distracted.
The main story line centers on a little girl trying to absolve herself of the accidental death of her sister by way of the "sin eater." But this story line seems to end as soon as she finds the sin eater and it jumps to trying to "save" the sin eater. Throw in some murder, a love triangle and a stereotypical villain who, in trying to hide his family secrets, makes beating his "good" son into what seems like a hunting activity.
The scenes were badly lit and poorly composed. The editing, with several instances of disjointed and ill placed and executed cuts, only seemed fitting for how third rate much of the footage appeared. Several shots were very grainy and out of focus. It was as if nobody actually looked at the film before releasing it.
What scenes did end up looking fit enough to be released in theaters were ruined by bad dialog and even worse acting. While the actors were committed, their tendency was to over act and either no effort was made by the director to mitigate this tendency, or it was encouraged. The movie's action is suspended in a hyper-emotional state.
It doesn't help that one of the main characters has a hood over his head the whole time, or that the little girl spends half of the movie "hiding" her "sin." This coyness is the only way that the movie keeps the audience sitting in their seats, however restlessly, and keeps the film moving along.
This film was a poorly executed "Little House on the Prairie" movie bereft of the benefits of decent scripting, directing and, yes, acting. Even the few of the accomplished actors couldn't save this one. Not even Peter Wingfield, of whom I'm a fan.
If you want to see it, wait for the DVD to be released. Or better yet, wait until it makes it to television, where it should have been relegated in the first place, as a made-for-TV movie.
The main story line centers on a little girl trying to absolve herself of the accidental death of her sister by way of the "sin eater." But this story line seems to end as soon as she finds the sin eater and it jumps to trying to "save" the sin eater. Throw in some murder, a love triangle and a stereotypical villain who, in trying to hide his family secrets, makes beating his "good" son into what seems like a hunting activity.
The scenes were badly lit and poorly composed. The editing, with several instances of disjointed and ill placed and executed cuts, only seemed fitting for how third rate much of the footage appeared. Several shots were very grainy and out of focus. It was as if nobody actually looked at the film before releasing it.
What scenes did end up looking fit enough to be released in theaters were ruined by bad dialog and even worse acting. While the actors were committed, their tendency was to over act and either no effort was made by the director to mitigate this tendency, or it was encouraged. The movie's action is suspended in a hyper-emotional state.
It doesn't help that one of the main characters has a hood over his head the whole time, or that the little girl spends half of the movie "hiding" her "sin." This coyness is the only way that the movie keeps the audience sitting in their seats, however restlessly, and keeps the film moving along.
This film was a poorly executed "Little House on the Prairie" movie bereft of the benefits of decent scripting, directing and, yes, acting. Even the few of the accomplished actors couldn't save this one. Not even Peter Wingfield, of whom I'm a fan.
If you want to see it, wait for the DVD to be released. Or better yet, wait until it makes it to television, where it should have been relegated in the first place, as a made-for-TV movie.