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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:7
Rotten:29
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: This earnest Christian parable is undone by its pompous dialogue and cheap FX.
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: When a mysterious man "absolves" her grandmother's sins by eating bread and wine at her grave, 10-year-old Cadi wants the same redemption -- while she's still alive! But in her quest for... [More]
Starring: Louise Fletcher, Henry Thomas, Liana Liberato, Soren Fulton
Director: Michael Landon
The look of The Last Sin Eater is muddy and indiscriminately focused. The camera always seems to be too far off when you wish to get a better look and too close when you wish that it would point at anything other than what’s in the frame.
The Last Sin Eater has flaws too hard to ignore. The lovely shots of Appalachian vistas are spoiled by cheesy special effects straight from the 1960s Chroma-Key era.
As a window into an older culture, or an evening's entertainment with the family, you could certainly do worse.
It’s stunning how flat and lifeless this film is, and we won’t even talk about the chintzy special effects. Another cynical God-market outing from the folks at Fox Faith.
Unfortunately for God-fearing youths in desperate need of counseling on the horrors of sin-eating, [Cadi's] spiritual awakening will likely put audiences to sleep.
Defects in the story are bad enough, but other issues truly doom The Last Sin Eater.
A strong story is hindered here by on-the-nose dialogue and melodramatic delivery that makes it seem more like a pulpit-pounding sermon than a slyly subtle parable.
Liberato muddles through a heavy-handed Christian agenda and barely legible plot.
The problem isn't Sin Eater's Christian theme -- in fact, the idea of a community shifting from paganism to Christianity is promising -- but that the movie can't find a way to integrate that theme into its story.
The only people who can possibly learn something from a movie like The Last Sin Eater are those who follow blindly.
With its dulling straightforward pitch for Jesus, The Last Sin Eater seems like the worst of films from a non-born-again perspective.
The story has enough mystery and drama to keep the attention of any audience.
The film's rhythm drags. And [director] Landon uses the 'when in doubt, pump up the score' method for signaling Cadi's emotions.
It has earnestness but not a lot of conviction...
Efforts to build suspense, with ominous music and dark figures flashing past the camera, are laughably amateurish, as is the made-for-TV cinematography.
The film exposes one of its most distracting flaws: its low production values.
Never afraid to overstate the obvious, helmer and co-scripter Landon establishes, underscores and italicizes each plot point with the well-intentioned didacticism of a Sunday School teacher.
Top CriticA watchable film for adults, though torturously glacial for kids.
The special effects look like they were executed on somebody's laptop.
Marred by a certain awkward earnestness.
May 17, 2007:
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February 17, 2007:
Set in the 1850s, this Christian-oriented tale of redemption comes courtesy of Fox Faith, a newly-created division of 20th Century Fox. 
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February 08, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Norbit" Is Flabby; "Hannibal Rising" Isn't That Tasty
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