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The Pledge [2001]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

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


A largely unrecognized masterpiece
Review date: 2008-04-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

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 or obtrusive directing style, and reminds me a lot of Boorman in many ways, but in this picture definitely, he portrays deft touches as well as the great cinematic presence and style.

Then we get on to casting. Sometimes these days, Nicholson turns up to act, and sometimes he turns up just to take the money AND add money to the picture by being Jack. But when he takes on a role for professional reasons and really respects the script and loves the character, he acts...REALLY acts. This performance should have got him yet another oscar nomination at the very least. There are just so few actors who have the ability to portray such painfully human characters like this actor. He is a never ending sensation.

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Reviews


Nicholsons' best performance?
Review date: 2008-01-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

...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 conflict ,undergone by the main protagonist.
Whilst I recommend this film to anyone who'll listen to me, I also point them towards the german original "Es geschah am hellichten Tag ( 1958)".
I n this remake however, the ending was realized as intended by the author whereas the german version's ending was reputedly changed to make it a little more paletable.

One of the best films I've seen
Review date: 2007-05-31 Rating: 10 out of 10

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 failure to answer spoke volumes, as if he didn't want to face up to his darkest thoughts.

Of course, one has to suspend belief somewhat, well, quite a lot, when watching the film as it nears the end. I do not believe any police department would allow a little girl to be placed in so much potential danger as was depicted. Also, I don't believe that any ex-cop would just be able to assert his influence and practically take control of proceedings like Jerry seemed to be able to do with impunity. Another theme was just how far will the police go - in this case, using a little child as bait in a trap - to "get their man"?

The ending was amazing. The pledge was fulfilled, as far as the parents of the first child knew. The cops were convinced right up to the final scenes that Jerry had become a nutcase and they had already got their man. The character, Toby, shot himself obviously for some other crime the police didn't know about and didn't investigate, and the young mother who befriended Jerry would continue the rest of her life in the certain knowledge that he was a rogue and a pervert. Maybe only Harry Dean Stanton and daughter were glad to get shot of the place. They were well out of it!


A "so-so" film.
Review date: 2007-01-25 Rating: 6 out of 10

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 if everything is going to end happy ever after but..... Sean Penn is becoming a very accomplished director and has now succeeded in leaving the shadow of Madonna - apart from which he is more talented than her!The real problem for me is that the storyline makes the pace of the film flat, there are NO real edge of your seat moments and that's what let it down for me.

Fantastic if disturbing flick from Sean Penn
Review date: 2005-01-10 Rating: 8 out of 10

By no means a hit (costing around $45m and recouping only $20m in the USA), The Pledge shows how accomplished Penn is becoming as a director and the fantastic range Jack Nicholson still offers. After the almost unrelentlessly bleak Indian Runner, Penn continued in similar vein with the Crossing Guard, and The Pledge is certainly an apt companion piece for these two films.

The only problem I had with the film was the slightly abrupt ending and Nicholson's rather extreme mental swings at that point. The devastating end sequence works particularly well though.

Definitely worth watching, a peak for Penn as a director, but you still feel there is a lot more to come.

SPOILER

It should be clear who the killer is but, without giving it totally away, the key scene at the end is the odd shop woman Nicholson encounters when going to speak to Vanessa Redgrace, shouting for her son. Essentially, Nicholson's character's desolate end comes although he has been right all along.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Sean Penn
Benicio Del Toro
Patricia Clarkson
Beau Daniels

Creators:
Sean Penn (Primary Contributor)
Patricia Clarkson (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900190534
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2002-04-15
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 119 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2001-01-19
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: German (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Icelandic (Subtitled)
Language: Norwegian (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)

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