The Pledge is the latest offering from Sean Penn, and as in Crossing Guard he chooses Jack Nicholson as his leading man. Nicholson is detective Jerry Black, a respected and well-liked veteran of the Reno police force retiring to a life of angling with more than a little apprehension. Thus he jumps into a murder case, the slaying of a little girl, a mere six hours from retirement and makes a promise to the grieving mother to catch the killer. As his partner (an effectively abrasive Aaron Eckhart) squeezes a confession out of the severely mentally handicapped suspect (a thoroughly unsettling performance by Benicio Del Toro), Jerry is convinced that they've got the wrong man. As with Sean Penn's previous work, this is an actors' piece. Nicholson plays Jerry as having a restlessness under his easy-going, smiling calm and Del Toro, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave and Mickey Rourke make striking impressions in their single-scene appearances. Penn is less concerned with the mystery than the emotional turmoil and Jerry's state of mind, interrupting moments of calm with jagged cuts and discomforting images (including some especially disturbing crime scene photos). Jerry's instincts and methods are sound and his sensitivity is real--he takes in a battered single mom (Robin Wright Penn) and her little girl, and develops a rewarding family life--but his passion for justice turns to unhealthy, destructive obsession. That's ultimately what we're left with at the conclusion of this often off-putting but ultimately fascinating film. The truth will not always set you free.--Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
A largely unrecognized masterpiece It's slowly picking up more fame with the passing of time, this film, it seems, but its release passed me by and I, like many others was recommended this by a video guide. It was one of the best rentals I've ever had, and at this price this film is a must if you like good thrillers, good cinematic films, and of course good acting. I was just a little wary about Penn directing, as the only other Penn made movie I know I'd seen before this was a little heavy and demanding. He does actually have quite a heavy... more info
Nicholsons' best performance? ...I'll say it again-To me, this is the first time, Jack Nicholson did more than just entertain.
About Schmidt, to me, was in a similar league and when he flew over the cuckoo's nest, I felt pretty much the same, but this time I feel there is even more depth to his character.
I was quite surprised when I saw this film for the first time.
The photography is rather well, and I would say the same about the casting and direction.
The soundtrack music is just right in that it underpins he... more info
One of the best films I've seen I've never written a film review before. Always been afraid of saying something that would give the game away for those who haven't seen the film yet, but may want to. This film showed Jack Nicholson in all his brilliance - quite my favourite actor - but after the film had ended, indeed, as some have suggested, rather abruptly, I pondered over all the threads for ages. The doctor, and her insistent question to Jerry, whether he was still sexually active. You can tell what SHE was thinking! And Jerry's... more info
A "so-so" film. I am NOT a Jack Nicholson fan! There, that's got that out of the way. Having said that I thought he was outstanding in "A Few Good Men", the only other film I've watched him in and he played a very good part in this as a sympathetic detective - against his normal typecast - who "pledges" to the mother of a child victim to find the killer, even though he is on his last day in the service? Robin Wright Penn plays the love interest and Nicholson becomes her daughters stand-in father and at one time it seems as... more info
![The Pledge [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EPTFAH0EL._SL160_.jpg)
