The Pledge
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Movie Reviews of The Pledge
Movie Review: Penn's Best Directing Work & Nicholson In Top Acting Form
Summary: 5 Stars
This time out as a director Sean Penn did not also do the writing. He used a first rate novel, written by the late Friedrich Dürrenmatt, and adapted by first rate screenwriters Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski. It shows. The writing is complex and finely nuanced, taking no predictible Hollywood plot or character turns. The film is also highly artistic. Actors must love to work for Penn because he obtained the very best for even single scene roles. As retiring police detective Jerry Black, Nicholson is pulled into one last case and pledges to a grieving mother that he will find her daughter's killer. This sets him off on a long, obsessive course of action to trap this killer. He has an incredible amount of patience in setting his lure, much like his favorite avocation, fishing, requires of its followers. This also sets in motion his using and manipulating other people, particularly a single mother and her daughter, which heightens the tension considerably. Robin Wright Penn does her usual first class acting job as that single mother. Perhaps the most startling performance in the whole film is Benicio del Toro as a mentally handicapped Indian the police believe is the killer. Del Toro may have quite an acting future ahead if this performance is any indication of the range of his ability. He even outdoes his "Traffic" performance. I read that this film was a sensation when it screened at the Cannes Film Festival and I can certainly see why that experienced audience was so impressed. Nicholson's closing moments of acting in the film are amongst the finest in his long acting career.Movie Review: Negative existentialism at its finest
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is not your typical Hollywood cookie cutter film. It doesn't end neatly or happily. Questions are left unanswered. It challenges the audience, especially at the end when you're going to be angry after getting such a large dose of negative existentialism.The dirty ending is similar to the other movies Sean Penn has directed - notably "The Indian Runner" and "The Crossing Guard." Penn is a big Bruce Springsteen fan and it shows in his ambiguous treatment of the characters - he focuses in on them, shows a snapshot of their lives, and then pulls the camera away, giving barebones exposition, and trusting the audience to reach their own conclusions. For example, despite being the central character of the movie, we know almost nothing of Detective Jerry Black's (Jack Nicholson) background. And, at the end, we have no idea what's going to happen to him next.
Penn doesn't give an opinion about whether Black is right or wrong to put a child in harm's way to catch a serial killer, nor does he tell us whether Black entered a relationship with the child's mother because he loved her, was lonely, or wanted to use her in his investigation (or some combination of the three). The questions left unanswered at the end are similar to those of "Mystic River" and make the movie so good. Penn trusts his audience to be smart.
Like "Shawshank Redemption," this movie demands a second viewing immediately after the first.
As for the performances, Jack Nicholson and Robin Wright Penn are fantastic. It's one of Nicholson's best films of late and doesn't just rely on him to do his Jack thing
Movie Review: The Pledge is one of the best films of 2001!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
First, I'm amazed that people would give this thought-provoking film a one-star rating. Are they accustomed to Hollywood's shoot-em-up, blow-em-up tactics or what? This movie belongs in the same plain as Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" and Arthur Penn's "Night Moves," both terrific psychological thrillers that wisely put story and character development ahead of action. How can some of the previous reviews contest Nicholson's character's behavior? It's apparent from the beginning that his retiring cop isn't all there, especially when we hear the "voices" that Nicholson hears in his head whenever he's uncomfortable or stressed. It's possible that his character had some mental problems while a detective all those years, and this latest case helped push his struggling body into the deep end. Thankfully, Nicholson doesn't do his goofy, poke-fun-at-me raised eyebrows and smile that he does in every other movie. Like Brian Cox and the late Robert Shaw, Nicholson actually disappears into the part, and you almost forget it's the same man who was in "The Shining" and "Terms of Endearment." Penn's directing is wonderfully paced, much like films from the 1970s and late 1960s. He doesn't throw everything at the audience like loud, crude movies do now. At times, you'll be able to almost hear Nicholson's character think in the long quiet scenes. It's a terrific film, a creepy film that will haunt anyone who has children. Not for the squeemish, but definitely for serious movie fans. And don't forget to check out Benicio Del Toro's appearance.Movie Review: Promises and their consequences
Summary: 5 Stars
The Pledge is more of a character study than it is a Cop/Crime drama but that is a very good thing. There is action in this film but it's more about a good man that will do anything to live up to the promise that he has made.Jerry Black (played magnificantly by Jack Nickolson) is on the trail of a killer that has brutally murdered an innocent young girl. He makes a "Pledge" to the mother of the victim to find the murderer and you can tell that when Black makes a promise he keeps it.
When watching this film, keep an open mind. Unlike many other movies a formalaic script does not exsist here. This film is a study of real life and the pain that goes along with trying ones best and having the results not come out the way one hoped (tragically portrayed in the last 3rd of this film).
Many stars make cameo appearances which is nice to see but these cameos aren't just for show, they all contribute to the film's success. Everyone is so believable that you find yourself not "star hunting" but losing yourself in the brilliant acting performances.
This movie will make you mad. This movie will make you upset. This movie will leave you feeling empty and maybe even depressed. You might not even like it the first time around (I didn't). But after you have digested what you have watched you realize that you have seen something special and Penn has made you think.
Movie Review: Very Intelligent Film
Summary: 5 Stars
Reading the many reviews for this film, I have realized that modern day filmaking has dilluted our minds and left us content with watching boring "popcorn" movies such as Armageddon and The Mummy Returns. Very few movies provoke us the way a film should, as soon as we leave the theater we have totally forgotten what we have just seen. This is not the case with Sean Penn's latest collaboration with Jack Nicholson (The Crossing Guard). The Pledge is, as another reviewer stated, "a breath of fresh air" in the days that popcorn movies rule the box office. Sean Penn has chosen to make a film that doesn't follow normal conventions, all the loose ends are not tied up at the end and this is certainly not your normal serial killer movie. It isn't really even a serial killer movie it all, it is a character study of how far a man will go to keep a pledge to find the killer of a mother's daughter. Jerry Black's pledge takes him to places he doesn't want to go, and his obsession is seen through Nicholson's emotions and actions. By the end of the film Jerry Black isn't the same man he was at the beginning. Those who hated this film were expecting a big, fast, "chase the killer" movie, but what we get is one of Nicholson's best performances, and one of the best films of the year!