The Pledge (I) (2001) User Reviews (661)

Warning: this is an existential parable, not a detective story

[petrelet · 8/10 · 11 August 2016]

In fact the novella by the Swiss author Friedrich Duerrenmatt, to which this screenplay is pretty much true, I guess (I've only read the Wikipedia synopsis) is subtitled "Requiem for the Detective Novel," and moreover it has a framing device which clues in the reader right away that his/her expectations should be held on a tight leash. This movie lacks similar warning labels, a flaw for which I'm knocking off a star as it inevitably makes people mad and confused (see some other user reviews).

Furthermore not everyone wants to spend two hours on an existential parable. I wasn't really prepared for it myself, and when it was over I had a period where I thought Sean Penn had played an irritating prank on me, sort of like someone who tells you a long involved joke with a really stupid punch line. But when I had thought about it a few minutes I developed a better appreciation of the philosophical issues that the movie was raising.

To give you a sense of those issues: when Victor Frankl was in a Nazi death camp, he had written a philosophical manuscript, and another prisoner asked him what the point of this was, since they were probably all going to die there and the manuscript would be forgotten. Frankl replied, "What kind of value system would I have to have, if I let my actions depend on whether I was going to get killed by Nazis and whether anyone was going to read the manuscript?" I admit to being hazy on the details of this story, but I am confident that I am getting the general idea.

This movie follows detective-story conventions up to a point, and the point comes about ten minutes before the end of the movie. (Expect bigger and bigger spoilers as this review progresses.)

Jerry Black is on his last day as sheriff of Reno, Nevada, land of ice fishing, Norwegians and hockey fans (the screenplay was written for Minnesota) and is ready to retire and go down to Mexico and fish, when he sits in on the botched arrest and interrogation of a mentally challenged Indian charged with the murder of a little girl. His successor has gotten a confession and is happy with the result. Jerry, who has sworn on the cross to the girl's mother to catch the killer, doesn't get on his plane. He goes out and interviews some big stars in cameo roles, and works out that there is a serial pedophile murderer out there, and figures out pretty much where he must live and some other things about him.

Nobody else is willing to get on the trail, so Jerry devotes his life to the pursuit; he buys a live-in gas station / store and starts watching for suspects. He meets a woman (Lori, played by Robin Wright) with an abusive husband and a daughter in the predator's target zone; they move in with him, and he starts using the daughter as bait. There is a disturbing parallel between the way he grooms the daughter for her role and the way the predator himself must operate. It's not that he doesn't care for the daughter - he does - but he is taking clearly unethical risks with her, without cluing in the mother. In a usual movie, that would be enough of an issue. Also his obsession seems to be undermining his mental balance.

Finally, after some red herrings, we get to the point (it is now fifteen minutes before the end of the movie) where the predator (identity unknown to Jerry) is expected to come for the girl. Jerry brings in his skeptical sheriff buddy with a SWAT team to surround the area, they wait, and -

And the predator doesn't come. (Because, as we know, but nobody else in the movie realizes, he has had a fatal auto accident on the way there.) Jerry now loses everything. His cop friends write him off as a "drunk and a clown." Lori hates him and leaves. So far as he knows he has completely failed; the killer is still out there; his mind goes; he is left drinking and mumbling to himself in the ruins of his life. THE END.

You can see how existential this all is. You try to live your life, accomplish something, catch the killer, roll a rock up the hill like Sisyphus; you give everything; and then something absurd happens and everything gets taken away from you, leaving you without even the knowledge that you've accomplished anything (if you have). That's life. That's mortality. That's what Stoics would say we just have to accept. I actually pretty much appreciate the point. And it was all done very competently by the ensemble. So I'm very glad I saw it. But if I hadn't had a Wikipedia article on Duerrenmatt on hand, as well as some previous encounters with postwar existentialist European thought, boy, would I have been grumpy about the whole thing.

Unexpected

[FunnyMann · 7/10 · 23 September 2001]

Having seen "The Pledge" without knowing much about it, I got something other than what I bargained for. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

If you're looking for a good whodunit, avoid this movie. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, avoid this movie. But if you're into seeing an intense character study bolstered by impressive acting and clever directing (kudos, Sean Penn), you've come to the right place.

I read one IMDB review calling this film Nicholson's worst ever. This is not true -- that reviewer obviously never saw "Man Trouble" -- but I can see why some folks really don't like this movie. It doesn't deliver what you'd expect, and what it does deliver is neither conventional nor uplifting. In fact, it's pretty depressing. But if you ponder the story afterward, you realize there's a certain dark justice at work here. Like, blacklight dark.

So then, "The Pledge" is not a light and frothy piece, but if you're the type who thinks watching some poor b**tard's descent into madness is entertainment, have at it.

"I made a promise, Eric. You're old enough to remember when that meant something..."

[drewnes · 7/10 · 30 May 2021]

I am impressed, Sean Penn. Serial killers are always something that intrigue me, but not every movie does a good job with it. The Pledge changed it up a bit where the focus is more on a retiree learning how to deal with getting old. Jack Nicholson continues to show why he is so good in films.

Nicholson carries a flawed, yet watchable film

[jtindahouse · 7/10 · 27 June 2021]

I don't think I've ever said "Oh wow" as many times before as I did in the opening credits of 'The Pledge'. Huge name after huge name just kept appearing. Every time I thought that had to be the end of it, another massive star would pop up. It turns out a lot of them were only there for very short cameos, but still to see all those people in one movie was pretty cool.

The real star of the show at the end of the day though is Jack Nicholson. I forget what an incredibly charismatic and natural actor he was. Every scene he's in feels so effortless and organic. I actually suspect a very large portion of my enjoyment of this film was simply down to his performance.

The movie itself was a strange one. It sets up a really interesting premise, with a retired investigator who thinks the real killer of children is still on the loose. Instead of going and hunting him though, he more or less decides to wait him out with some bait set. It's not the worst idea, but it doesn't make for as interesting of a film.

Then there's the ending. I won't go into any details. I'll just say I did not care for it. And I usually love different and unique endings. But we had invested too much time and care into this story for that to be the conclusion. It felt cheap, unrealistic and extremely unsatisfying.

At the end of the day though it's going to be very hard to make a bad film with Nicholson as your lead. I enjoyed this film, without ever loving it.

"Do you swear on your soul's salvation" that you will find the killer??

[TxMike · 30 June 2001]

Some spoilers... Nicholson's character, 6 hours from retirement as one of the the best police detectives ever, gets sucked into this case, the gruesome molestation, murder and dismemberment of a 7-yr-old girl in the woods, in the snow, and when the mother asks, about not giving up until the killer is found, "Do you swear on your soul's salvation", he unwisely says "Yes"!! I could have lost interest at that point, because it was ridiculous for anyone to ask such a thing, and equally ridiculous for a sane person to say 'yes', but perhaps they thought it was necessary for the rest of the film to feel right.

So he devotes his life in retirement, telling a doubting cop, "You're old enough to remember when a promise meant something." He studies the case, finds connections to others, discovers a drawing of "a giant", the "wizard" with a black car who was giving her chocolate porcupine candies, buys a local gas station for surveillance of all the people in the area, gets involved with a lady (Robin Wright Penn) and her little girl, using bad judgement uses the girl as "bait", mom is rightly upset, the "wizard" never shows up for the meeting he arranged.

What is unique in this film is that only us, the audience, and none of the characters, ever figure out what happened. Nicholson's character becomes a chain smoker, a drunk, loses his relationships, his gas station fails, he is rapidly becoming crazy, all because he made this "pledge" that he can never fulfill and he can never realize that.

The killer was Oliver, the husband of the Christmas Store lady, near the end was hunting in the store, saying, "Oliver, where did you put those candies. Oh, here's some...", the chocolate porcupine candies. We see Oliver driving his car towards the meeting point, crossing the centerline, and dying in a blazing head-on crash with a large truck. All the cops in the stake-out, all the towns people, none of them ever suspected that Oliver was the killer. The fire would have destroyed any evidence, like the candies, that may have tied him to the crimes.

It is interesting that we never really see Oliver, except a hazy image through a window of the Christmas Store, or his fluffy grey hair from behind as he drives the car. There is no character development for him, because none is needed. The story is not about him, it is about Nicholson's character and how a good intention (the "pledge") can ultimately, through a quirk of fate, destroy your life.

My wife and I both found this a very absorbing film, lots of opportunity to guess, usually incorrectly, what would happen next. Watching the film on DVD is a big help, as we were able to go back, after the end, to replay parts of key scenes to piece everything together. It is all there, if you listen and watch carefully. Good movie, good job by Penn and Nicholson, I rate it "8" of 10.

All the comments I read are equally, love it or hate it. I'll settle the dispute.

[userscreenname · 7/10 · 28 August 2004]

The Pledge is a....... good movie.

I see how people can dislike it, it is a kind of long movie, and you have to be patient with it. The ending is kind of frustrating to those seeking all the answers, but anyone with a fairly open mind will like it instantly.

The movie was good, I liked it, my mom and my little sister even liked it.

Sean Penn made sure not to try to win over a crown using the generic appeal, sex, gore, et cetera. He was very classy with this movie, good job on his part.

Acting was good throughout the movie, Jack Nicholson did a good job, I especially liked Benicio Del Toro's part, even though it was not too long.

I don't know, pretty much, it's a good movie, nothing out of the ball park. But it is worth the watch.

Hollywood Adaptation of a Swedish Classic.

[chiumt · 7/10 · 7 June 2020]

I read the original Swedish book. Never got to watch the movie until now. A character study rather than a serial killer thriller. A bit slow moving. And the climactic ending a bit of a let down. But Jack Nicholson is low key but good.

It's great to see professionals at work

[Alan-40 · 7/10 · 31 December 2002]

I'm not that crazy about the story, which has been put to film at least twice before. (I think the other movie is The Cold Light of Day.) In the other movie, which was set in one of the Soviet bloc countries, there was also a serial killer after young girls, and the detective makes the morally questionable decision to put a girlfriends daughter unknowingly at risk to use as bait. The swingset for the girl beside the road (where the killer would be sure to see her) was copied over from the novel.

For sheer moviemaking prowess, though, this team of actors and Penn as the director is unbeatable. Every performance comes across with perfect sincerity and you forget you are looking at famous actors. There are some surreal touches as well, when bit players from the early part show up on screen late in the story with non speaking roles.

Four stars. Even if you don't like Jack Nicholson.

Think twice before you watch this one.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 28 September 2018]

My summary is NOT because I disliked "The Pledge". However, two things about the movie make it very tough viewing. The story is about a sicko who rapes and murders children. This is NOT an easy thing to watch. Additionally, there is an absolutely horrific scene...and my wife bailed on the movie following it...and she's not especially squeamish. You see what looks very real as a man shoots himself in the head...blood and all! Be forewarned...this is not an easy picture.

Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) is a police chief who is retiring. His final case involves the rape and murder of a second grader...and he takes the parents anguish to heart and pledges to find the killer. Although he's now retired, he spends his retirement searching for the person responsible...and it appears as if they've killed several times already.

There is much more to the story than this and the bulk of the film is Black post-retirement...and his life and the plot unfolds very slowly and lovingly. You really like the guy and care for those around him. And, that brings me to a disappointing thing about the picture. I really loved it to this point (despite the suicide and the squicky plot)...the finale really felt unsatisfying and vague. The reasons for this are in the IMDB trivia...the studio ran out of money! This also might make it tough to watch...or at least frustrating. It's a real shame, as I really, really liked the performances and the actors deserved better.

Gripping

[rrailer · 8/10 · 11 January 2003]

Faithful to the book in most regards, the film is excellent, and Nicholson's performance is beyond reproach. While the denouement may have had issues (not with the point or the meaning, but rather the delivery), the film is still outstanding.

Nicholson's relationship with the girl (he is beautiful as an aged father) and his inexorable obsession with the murderer are perfect in the film. Sadly, Penn's pacing is inconsistent, as is the sense of "detective" that Duerenmatt was careful to give his novel: the film's heartbeat ranges from driving to rambling, and most thematically appropriate may have been a measured beat which is lacking here.

Nonetheless, the film is gripping, and captures the point, spirit and feel of the novel perfectly. It may not pull off the trick of being both faithful and profitable, but the film is true, and the acting impeccable.

Great actors in long moody winding murder mystery

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 18 January 2014]

Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) is retiring from the police force. A little girl's body is found, and he's asked to go in for one more case. When the girl's mother (Patricia Clarkson) asks him to find the killer, she forces him to take a pledge. When brash cop Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart) gets a mentally weak Indian (Benicio Del Toro) to confess, Jerry isn't so sure and continues to investigate despite nobody believes him.

It's obvious that director Sean Penn called in a lot of people. This is filled wall to wall with top ranked acting talents. Every character is played by great actors no matter how small the roles.

This movie takes its time. Maybe it takes too much time. It sets an interesting tone. It's moody. But the pace suffers. Sean Penn has an actor's instinct rather than a storyteller. He gets great performances from great actors. But the story meanders. It's more of a character study as the Jerry character oscillates from a superior police mind to a paranoid father figure. The character study culminates in an unusual ending.

Slow & Powerful

[shark-43 · 8/10 · 13 February 2006]

I had rather low expectations for The Pledge - even though I've admired Penn as an actor (Dead Man Walking, Racing With The Moon, etc.) I really didn't care much for his writing/directing attempts (Indian Runner and The Crossing Guard) so I finally got around to watching this on cable and I was not prepared for how intriguing, intelligent and emotionally powerful the movie was. Yes, obviously, from other people's comments, this isn't every one's cup of tea. Fine. You want quickie thriller, wall to wall action - go watch Con Air or something. Popcorn movies are fine. People need to turn off their brains and escape every now and then (Unfortunately for big budget movies - its more NOW and very rarely THEN)> So that is why I really enjoyed the slow pace and the ambiguity of the plot - it left things out there for you to find, to discover, to ponder. Nicholson - who is so capable of just phoning it in lately or just doing a gig for a paycheck (Anger Management - YIKES!!!) - but here he really delivers a strong, aching performance. He is surrounded by excellent actors (especially Del Toro, Eckhart and a very impressive tiny scene from Mickey Rourke). I know there are huge fans of the German book and the movie - I will seek them out. But I have watched this film twice and it is even more powerful the second time. One CAN be driven mad by NEVER knowing something so ghastly, something so important.

Beware - Major Spoilers Throughout

[Bilko-3 · 1/10 · 28 January 2001]

The ending of this movie stinks. It is the equivalent of telling a child a very suspenseful tale of a prince and a dragon. You build up skillfully to a climactic battle, and as the prince is raising his sword, you say, "But the dragon suddenly had a brain aneurysm and died, leaving the prince looking like a fool who lived unhappily ever after. Hey... sh*t happens, you know?"

Before the sneers and mutterings of "philistine" begin, let me say that I know what the screenwriters and the director were going for -- Greek tragedy: a good man, a Hero is brought to ruin by a fatal flaw in his character. The problem is that here, as in all storytelling, a tragic ending must also be a satisfying one for the audience. No matter how sad the hero's fall/demise, no matter what plot twists occur, one has to be able to say, "Well, that's tragic, but it had to happen. It was inevitable." It's a storytelling tightrope, from which the screenwriters and director fell from great heights, crashed and burned.

In trying to throw a curve, they threw a spitball; they cheated. A deus ex machina ("Machine of the Gods") is a phony dramatic contrivance where the Gods step in at the end of a story and make everything right again. The hero is off the hook. What happened to the serial killer here was worse than a deus ex machina. He is killed by coincidence. That's just cheating.

I would like to suggest what would have been a truly tragic ending. Make Jerry Black a lonelier man. One whose two failed marriages have left him without hope of having a family. Then he meets Lori and Chrissy. His unexpected love for them grows to *almost* the size of his obsession with catching the killer. Give him a true choice between love & obsession and let him pick the wrong one. Then let him catch the goddamned killer. And after he does, this Hero, having fulfilled his task, turns for love and adoration to Lori, who lets him have the same speech she does now and whisks herself and her daughter out of his life. Black then fully realizes what his heroic choice has cost him, and ends up lonely, embittered and perhaps mad.

That would have been a satisfying ending, because the way things play now, here's what the audience is thinking, "He deserves to catch the killer. He does not deserve to have this family after endangering Chrissy so horribly."

The ending of "The Pledge" is badly, terribly wrong, as it trashes what up until then was one of the finest suspense films I've ever seen and one of Jack Nicholson's greatest performances.

Superb drama. Top 5 of the decade so far without a doubt!

[Infofreak · 8 March 2002]

I have been an admirer of Sean Penn's previous directorial efforts ('The Indian Runner' and 'The Crossing Guard'), but he has really surpassed himself with this one. Re-teamed with Jack Nicholson he has helped that legendary actor create his best on screen performance since his 1970s peak ('Five Easy Pieces', 'Last Detail', 'Cuckoo's Nest', 'Marvin Gardens' et al). Nicholson has always been sensational but over the last ten years or so has sleepwalked his way through way too many movies, culminating in his irritating and mannered performance in the cliched and sentimental claptrap 'As Good As It Gets'. 'The Pledge' has obviously recharged his creative batteries. He is simply stunning in this film.

Nicholson is supported by a superlative array of actors, ranging from Aaron Eckhart ('The Company Of Men') and Sam Shepard ('The Right Stuff') to British vets Helen Mirren and Vanessa Redgrave, to Nicholson's old cronies Lois Smith ('Five Easy Pieces') and Harry Dean Stanton ('The Rebel Rousers'). While the cast is packed with familiar faces, none are gratuitous, all are first rate, and contribute to the overall excellence of the movie. Special mention must be made to the memorable cameos of Benicio Del Toro, and an as especially compelling performance by Mickey Rourke. Long underrated and often ridiculed, Rourke once again shows just how compelling he is as an actor.

'The Pledge' sticks out like a sore thumb in today's climate of wall to wall action movies, dumb comedies, and contrived "blockbusters". This is a real movie, with outstanding acting and a haunting story. Sadly fewer and fewer movies of this calibre are hitting the big screen, so treasure it!

First half 8, second half 4.

[radhrh · 6/10 · 19 January 2023]

The Pledge from way back in 2001 is a tense cop drama with a star studded cast. So how has it flown under my radar for so long? Why isn't this remembered I the same way as Seven or Silence of the Lambs? Despite boasting a stellar cast including Benicio del Toro, Helen Mirren, Harry Dean Stanton, Mickey Rourke, Vanessa Redgrave et Al and being led of course by the inimitable Jack Nicholson, all but Jack only play cameo roles, they're on screen for a couple of minutes a piece and then are never seen or heard of again. The first half of the movie is a belter, but hits the viewer with some genuinely gut renching images which are gratuitous imo, do we really need to see this? The second half becomes a complete mess, however as our man Jack sets out to plan and execute an elaborate trap to snare the killer. The plan involves buying a gas station and insinuating his way into the life of a single mother who just happens to have a daughter who fits the killer's victims profile perfectly. Oh and let's not forget all this is based on a child's drawing of a very tall man with a black car. Really? Who in their right mind spends their retirement like that? But here's the rub, Jacky boy isn't in his right mind. Could he be the killer? Spoiler alert! No. As soon as Tom Noonan appears as a creepy priest the jig is up. For anyone who recognized Tom Noonan as the tooth fairy from Micheal Mann's Red Dragon we know very well who the killer is. It's a shocking piece of casting which pretty much kills the movie off. So after a tedious half hour the trap is set, the little girl is bait, the SWAT team are ready to pounce, the killer is en route. Then the killer drives head on into a truck and is burned alive in the wreckage, the SWAT team get bored of waiting and go home, the girl's mother shows up and realized she and her daughter are being used and Jack becomes a gibering alcoholic necking booze Infront of his shut down gas station in the final scene, a play back of the first scene. That is so lame and must go down as the most anticlimactic endings since "Then I woke up and it was all a dream". Still, it's now available on Netflix if you've got two hours to waist.

Easily forgotten

[boardertrash · 6/10 · 20 October 2017]

Well acted, some beautiful imagery, keeps you interested with it's at times almost painful levels of suspense but is ultimately a big let down. We felt like we deserved a better ending. I suspect the author tried to come up with something different to an age old killer on the loose storyline and cop with "a hunch" but at the end of the day the audience has a certain requirement to enjoy what they've witnessed and if that fails to materialise for whatever reason then the movie can't be rated highly purely for the acting alone.

Perhaps the book is better.

Suspenseful build-up, with an unsatisfying ending.

[manuel-steiner1 · 6/10 · 5 April 2019]

Pace & Thrill: 14 out of 20

Plot: 6 out of 10

Direction: 7 out of 10

Cinematography: 7 out of 10

Creativity: 3 out of 5

Acting: 9 out of 10

Script: 6 out of 10

Ending (last 5 minutes): 3 out of 10

Music: 3 out of 5

Originality and meaning: 3 out of 10

Deductions: -3 for ending

Overall: 57 out of 100 Holistic rating: 6 out of 10

"I made a promise, Eric. You're old enough to remember when that meant something"

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 21 November 2007]

Those looking for action, gunfire and a cheerful, emotionally-satisfying conclusion had best look elsewhere. 'The Pledge (2001),' Sean Penn's third film as director, is a brutal and uncompromising character study of a retired detective's slow and steady spiral into madness, driven to the brink of sanity by his obsession with catching an invisible killer. Following the rape and murder of a young girl, Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) promises a distraught mother that he will bring her daughter's murderer to justice. A mentally-challenged American Indian (Benicio Del Toro), who was witnessed at the scene of the crime, is arrested, driven to a confession and subsequently commits suicide, leading to the closure of the case. However, Jerry comes to believe that the killer was somebody else – a tall man who called himself The Wizard and lured young girls with chocolate hedgehogs. Believing that the murderer will strike again, Jerry makes a new life for himself alongside a lake and waits patiently for signs of The Wizard's return, in the meantime striking up a friendship with a single mother, Lori (Robin Wright Penn), and her eight-year-old daughter, Chrissy (Pauline Roberts).

Though the identity of the killer proves not quite as important as Jerry's psychological deterioration, the story throws countless red herrings to put the viewer off guard. Tom Noonan, best-remembered as Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann's 'Manhunter (1986),' would seem the obvious choice for the killer, and we witness more than a few unlikely coincidences that would place his character well within suspicion. Rather than allowing the actual murderer to be brought to justice, the story takes a shocking turn when he is killed in a car accident, the truth behind his crimes completely unknown. In the final moments of the film, the characters are offered various lifelines that they fail to grasp: will Jerry abandon his pledge to protect the young girl to whom he has become a father? Will Detective Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart) recognise the black sedan blazing on the roadside? Will Jerry ever be acknowledged for the truth behind his unlikely hunch, or will his former colleagues continue to believe that he has lost his mind?

'The Pledge' was adapted from Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1958 novel, "Das Versprechen," which was an altered version of his previous screenplay "Es geschah am hellichten Tag / It Happened in Broad Daylight," upon which a critically-acclaimed 1958 film was based. Jack Nicholson has a welcome return to form with his portrayal of a hardened but emotionally-vulnerable character, and the supporting players complement his performance well. Though his efforts have indirectly caused the death of the perpetrator, Jerry is completely oblivious to this. Having severed his close friendship with Lori after placing Chrissy's life in unnecessary danger, we find and leave him a drunken, muttering wreck of a man, forever condemned to live in the shadow of his broken promise. There are not many Hollywood directors daring enough to cut to the credits on such a downbeat note, but sometimes we've just got to realise that, in real life, a happy ending is not always a certainty.

People Who Don't Like This Movie May Not Understand the Influence Behind It

[MichaelFab · 7/10 · 1 March 2011]

For most people, this may be just an average movie. But they might not understand the inspiration behind it.

I saw Sean Penn's first directorial The Indian Runner in 1991 and initially thought it was a slow, dull, lagging soap-opera. Back then I didn't know much about the art of film. Other movie watchers may not like this film The Pledge for similar reasons.

Then I watched an interview w/Sean Penn and he said his big influence was John Cassavetes, who had recently passed away. So I went back & watched some of Cassavetes' films again. His films were social dramas between friends, usually in New York, struggling with their own inner conflicts. After that, when I watch Sean Penn's first four films (as filmmaker) I can totally see Cassavetes all over his films, especially in this one. Never has his inspiration been so strong than in the way Nicholson struggles with his demons in this picture.

The scenes where Nicholson realizes what a mistake he made towards the end, and of him drinking himself to death, looking up in the sky, talking to himself in the closing (and opening) are priceless. I see Cassavetes' struggle of the human soul in those scenes, just like in the films he made, and in some of the characters he played. It really affects the way you see this film.

Never have so many people got the killer's identity wrong

[deason · 10/10 · 14 March 2006]

A brilliant movie, surely one of the masterpieces of 21st century cinema to date. It is its fate to be under-rated and under-appreciated, but to those who can see, its genius is obvious and compelling.

While the identity of the murderer is definitely NOT the point, it IS clearly and unambiguously revealed; however, judging from countless misinterpretations and misidentifications, both here and overheard in the cinema when I saw it, this apparently counts as a spoiler even for a lot of people who HAVE already seen the film...

SPOILERS The killer is seen only in passing. He is the man, called "Oliver" by his wife, in the "Land of Christmas" shop. If you re-watch the movie closely, this should be apparent. If you need more explicitly listed evidence, keep reading.

The killer, known as the Magician, is very tall, to the point where one of the victims calls him a giant. Note the shot from above the door of the "Land of Christmas" shop when Nicholson enters. The camera is inside the shop, above the door, looking down towards the floor. The bell that rings catches our attention, but if you look again you will see how unusually high this door is - see how much taller the door is than Nicholson? Much higher than a normal-sized door. This shot is also repeated near the very end of the movie, in the sequence where all the clues to the killer's identity are summarised.

When we do glimpse Oliver in the shop, in the scene where Nicholson enters the "Land of Christmas" asking for directions to the girl's grandmother's house, he has the grey hair that we see the killer has when driving towards the rendezvous at the end of the film (which he never reaches due to the accident). We learn subsequently that the girl would visit the "Land of Christmas", also.

After the killer has started his drive towards the rendezvous, as part of the "clue summarising" we return to the "Land of Christmas", with his wife calling out for him.

The absolute clincher, though, is the fact that the "Land of Christmas" sells small chocolate "porcupines". (We see his wife mention them and take out a box of them when she is searching for him.) It was of course these that he would give to his victims, as depicted in the child's drawing.

Incidentally, the point of the close-up of the rear-vision mirror in the burning car is to show the small porcupine figurine hanging from it. The Tom Noonan character is a decoy, and definitely not the killer.

Hopefully anyone re-watching it after reading the above will be able to see for themselves. :) One fascinating angle I've not seen commented on is the way Penn's tirade at Nicholson at the end of the movie would, word for word, apply just as well as if Nicholson had been abusing her daughter himself... Rewatch the scene and see how well that jibes.

Gripping and thrilling remake directed by Sean Penn from classic Spanish/German film by Ladislao Vadja

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 27 August 2011]

The ¨Pledge¨ is an awesome movie with tension , thriller , chills and extraordinary performances with special mention to starring Jack Nicholson who does a superb acting . It's a remake from vintage Switzerland/Spain/German co-production titled ¨The Bait¨ (1958) directed by Ladislao Vadja with Heinz Ruhmann , Maria Rosa Salgado , Michael Simon and Gert Frobe . This haunting movie based on a Fredrich Durrenmatt novel concerns about a detective ( an obstinate Jack Nicholson in similar role played by Heinz Ruhmann ) who on the day of his retirement becomes involved in the case of a little girl's killing . The retiring police chief pledges the parents ( Patricia Clarson and Michael O'Keefe in brief performances ) to catch the killer of the young child . Detective Jerry Black has made a promise he can't break, to catch a killer he can't find . At the beginning appears as suspect an unfortunate vagrant , a retarded Native trapper ( incomparable Benicio Del Toro in the role of Michael Simon ). But the Nevada police detective doesn't believe the police detained the right man ; he investigates this is the third incident in the zone in the recent past with victims young , blond, pretty, and small for their age . He gets some clues from a drawing by the killed girl , as the murderous can be a tall man who drives a black car , gives toy porcupines as gifts, and calls himself the wizard . In order to search the killer , the police buys a gas station to Floyd ( Harry Dean Stanton ) and takes employee a separated woman ( a sweet Robin Wright who married Sean Penn ) with a daughter, being his intention of use them as bait for the cruel murderous . The police detective trying to trap a child killer , at the same time his mind on the woman and the little girl . It leads to the climax with the presence of the serial killer along with the kid and the possible tragedy.

This is a well crafted movie plenty of suspense , thrills and psychological studio . The picture functions on various levels with superb characters well played by an all-star cast and a well-paced screenplay . Its perfect developing resides not in displays of frenzied action and grisly violence like happen in modern cinema, but rather lies about interesting characters and suspenseful . The story as told in the novel is scary enough , but the picture manages to create an atmosphere of unbearable tension and palpable terror within the enchanting , brightly-lit outdoors of a small location . Colorful and glittering cinematography by Chris Menges - The mission- . Sensible and touching musical score with some wonderful song by Hans Zimmmer and Klaus Badelt . This fine-tuned motion picture is excellently directed by Sean Penn . In my opinion this is one of the best films to come out of America in the decade of the 2000 .If you like thoughtful and brooding films that are exciting and rich pace with rhythm but no displaying a great deal of action, you'll like this one. Penn has proved to be a good filmmaker , such as : ¨The Indian runner¨(91) , ¨The crossing guard¨(95) , this ¨The pledge¨(2001) and ¨Into the wild¨ (2002) at his best .

Other movies based this exciting novel are the following : 'The cold light of day' (1995) directed by Rudolf Van Den Berg with Richard E Gant , and as a 1997 TV movie ; and of course the best adaptation the Spain/Switzerland/Germany production titled ¨The Bait¨ (1958) directed by Ladislao Vadja .

Masterful Film

[gottogorunning · 8/10 · 18 August 2005]

Saw this film on cable last night (only the last hr. or so) & it was extraordinary. Nicholson gives both a moving & harrowing performance as an old, hard-drinking, washed up police detective. Though his character is in the dregs, he still manages to compel our empathy. Not since "Ironweed" has he attempted a character so thoroughly seedy.

His relationship w. Robin WRight & Wright's daughter is affecting; and the plot developments around the child murderer stalking the daughter are riveting.

The film concludes in a downbeat way that only a director like Sean Penn would have been brave enough to attempt in this era of happy Hollywood endings. Though we as audience know that Nicholson was right in his suspicions of the murderer, none of the characters (including Nicholson's) realize this. At the end, everyone gives up on Nicholson, believes he is nuts; & he in turn reverts to a life of booze & unintelligible muttering. It is heartbreaking to watch. As you watch Wright flay Nicholson for letting her daughter be a lure for the murderer; and we watch Nicholson react w. sullen silence to the onslaught, we are twisted into paroxysms of sadness for him. You realize the moral complexity of the situation: in order to keep faith w. other parents who've lost children to this murderer, Nicholson has endangered the daughter of a woman he has come to love. And she in turn comes to hate him when she learns what he has done. This is a profound moral dilemma.

Penn has created a masterful film, proving yet again that he is one of our better directors. "The Pledge" is one of which he can rightly feel proud.

Promising film that does not deliver

[sgsilver · 6/10 · 8 May 2004]

I found this film to have some very interesting possibilities that were never fully developed. The characters were not nearly as fully developed -- watching Jack Nicholson go fishing and tending a gas store is not character development. The film had many great ideas but did not take advantage of them, instead becoming a long, drawn-out film that leaves the viewer rather unsatisfied. The film starts out strong but simply lugs along rather clumsily; I was waiting for it to come together at the end, and it never did. There were more questions than answers about Nicholson's character, and I felt I knew less about him at the end than I did at the beginning. Even the excellent acting cannot save the heavily flawed script and directing. Overall a disappointing film.

Another Bad Ending

[kanjeep · 5/10 · 18 July 2023]

This movie was a solid 7, pushing on 8, until the last 15 minutes of the movie. It's as easy to see that the ending was forced due to budget issues. What a waste of three quarters of a story. We were on the edge of our seats and they did a good job of character building and plot twist.

Then....they turn everything upside down at the end. When did Jerry become a psychotic alcoholic???? After all he had done for the mother and daughter l, they just walk away???? Too many unknowns to make for a good ending. It's really sad what they did to this movie. It says it bombed at the cinemas??? That's cause word got out about the ending!

Not entirely convincing

[mahen1 · 27 March 2005]

In short, this is a story about a decent man driven to madness by an obsession. This story line has been covered with great success by many film makers and screenwriters many times before, but Penn's effort falls short, mainly due to a contrived and highly coincidental storyline.

Nicholson plays a cop who is entering retirement. Just hours before he is officially retired a young girl is found raped and killed. The only witness is a young boy who sees a long haired Indian man running from the scene of the crime. The boy does not see the crime happening. The Indian is quickly located and brought to the the police station. Turns out that he has past convictions for child abuse and drugs. He is also clearly retarded and with a little plodding from the cops confesses to the murder and then shoots himself with a cop's gun. Case closed right? Not so for Nicholson. He has promised the dead girl's parents that he will find the killer, and he is not convinced the Indian did it. Needles to day his fellow cops do not agree and the case is closed. Nicholson goes on his retirement but his promise still plays on his mind.

Now begins a long and at times unnecessarily meandering tale of Nicholson's slow degeneration into mad obsession. Penn tries to bring conviction to the story by portraying Nicholson attempting to settle down into a life of normal retirement and yet driven into pursuing the investigation by a series of subtle events that persuades him that the actual killer is still at large. This type of mood story requires skilled handling by the director, and Penn does not seem to have it (length does not necessarily create mood). Along the way we see Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren and Mickey Rourke in a series of cameos. Does nothing to improve the story though.

Nicholson in the central role acts like he is doing a favour to Penn by appearing in this movie. He does not appear to be giving 100% to this role. At times he looks like even he is unconvinced about the transformation of his character.

The most noteworthy aspect of this film is Penn's ability to get so many great actors together for this movie. Pity that their presence is not going to save this movie from obscurity.