Dare I say it but as a source for stories, the Catholic Church is getting a bit stale – no film better proves this point that the 2005 straight-to-DVD release The Confessor. Despite a talented cast, including Molly Parker (of "Deadwood" fame) and Stephen Rea (late of the superb Breakfast on Pluto) and a not-too-wooden performance from Christian Slater, The Confessor is redolent of been there, done that.

Slater stars as Daniel Clemens, a relentless PR flack for the local diocese, who in an early scene is implied to have wrested three million dollars for a children's hospital out of thin air, finds himself wrestling with the depths of his faith as he defies his superiors, pursuing an investigation into the innocence of a devout fellow cleric accused of murder. With the help of local reporter Madeline Finney (Parker) and the church's lawyer McCaran (Rea), Daniel discovers just how far he's willing to go in search of the truth.

Billed as a "tense psychological thriller," The Confessor (the flick so fun it doesn't even have an IMDB listing) is neither very tense or particularly psychological – director Lewin Webb hits most of all of the notes you'd expect and if you've watched any TV crime shows lately, you'll probably be a few steps ahead of Brad Mirman's screenplay. I wish I could tell you that The Confessor is an under-the-radar gem, but that's just not the case.

The Video:

The Confessor is presented with a serviceable 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen that belies the film's low budget – grain tends to plague the more lowly-lit scenes, but overall, if you ignore the edge enhancement and slick digital appearance, you should be OK.

Where video somewhat fails, audio succeeds: The Confessor is outfitted with a full, immersive Dolby Digital 5.1 track – sure, Gary Koftinoff's overwrought score pulses underneath every scene but for a sense of the track's clarity and spaciousness, check out the opening credits sequence.

The only bonus material is a slew of trailers: Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, When A Stranger Calls, The Cave, Blood of Beasts, The Fog, Into The Blue, Stealth, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, USS Poseidon: Phantom Below and Saint Ralph.

The Confessor is an unremarkable thriller, punctuated by overly earnest direction and a stilted lead performance courtesy of one Mr. Christian Slater. Skip it.