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Movies / Upcoming / The Pledge
The Pledge

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The Pledge (2001)

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Reviews Counted:117

Fresh:90

Rotten:27

Average Rating:6.8/10

Consensus: Though its subject matter is grim and may make viewers queasy, The Pledge features an excellent, subtle performance by Jack Nicholson.

Runtime: 2 hrs 4 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $18,894,185

Synopsis: Director Sean Penn's (THE INDIAN RUNNER, THE CROSSING GUARD) third film features Jack Nicholson as Jerry Black, a retired detective whose final case ultimately causes his slow descent into madness.... Director Sean Penn's (THE INDIAN RUNNER, THE CROSSING GUARD) third film features Jack Nicholson as Jerry Black, a retired detective whose final case ultimately causes his slow descent into madness. In the midst of his retirement party, Black decides to join Detective Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart) on one last case. The molested body of an eight-year-old girl is found in the Nevada mountains. When the chief suspect turns out to be a mentally challenged Native American (Benicio Del Toro), Black is not convinced of his guilt despite his confession. Unable to forget the promise he made to the dead girl's mother that he would find her daughter's killer, Black becomes determined to catch a monster that no one else believes is out there. His resolve increases when he realizes that two similar unsolved murders occurred in the same area in recent years, and the case hits closer to home when Black befriends Lori (Robin Wright Penn), a waitress with a threatening ex-husband, and her eight-year old daughter, Chrissy (Pauline Roberts). Nicholson is compelling in this study of a man whose obsession slowly eats away at his sanity as he attempts to keep his promise by any means necessary. [More]

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn, Patricia Clarkson, Benicio Del Toro

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn, Patricia Clarkson, Benicio Del Toro, Dale Dickey, Aaron Eckhart, Costas Mandylor, Helen Mirren, Tom Noonan, Michael O'Keefe, Pauline Roberts, Vanessa Redgrave, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shepard, Lois Smith, Harry Dean Stanton

Director: Sean Penn

Director: Sean Penn
Screenwriter: Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski
Producer: Michael Fitzgerald, Sean Penn, Elie Samaha
Composer: Hans Zimmer, Klaus Badelt
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Pledge

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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...a layered and strangely touching film that prefers to ask questions rather than provide definitive answers.

Full Review Source: In Film Australia | comment Comment
08/19/01
Luke Buckmaster
Luke Buckmaster
In Film Australia
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/10/01
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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The payoff eventually shows up. We swear.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/19/01
E! Online
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Film Threat
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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
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Carnadas humanas, una historia obsesiva, y un tono lírico tremendo... grata combinación que transforma una historia policíaca en algo humano, vivo y enteramente emocional.

Full Review Source: Cinenganos | comment Comment
09/15/02
Alex Ramirez
Alex Ramirez
Cinenganos

Penn's past directing gigs...are the work of a tortured soul; The Pledge was guided by a tortured artist.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
06/24/01
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

Dark and disturbing but thoroughly involving. It sets off depth charges of the psyche.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/19/01
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Bob Grimm
Bob Grimm
Sacramento News & Review

Nicholson drives the piece with an understated, quietly roiling performance that's the most natural work he's done in at least a decade.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/19/01
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

A film that – warts and all – is going to be far more interesting to talk about in future years than 90 minutes of gunfights would have been.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/07/01
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

It is understatement to say that Nicholson does some of the finest work of his career here.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

Shows that a subdued Nicholson still packs more wallop than nearly all of his peers.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Never less than respectable.

Full Review Source: Matinee Magazine | comment Comment
03/07/02
Chuck Rudolph
Chuck Rudolph
Matinee Magazine

See it after you've refilled your Zoloft prescription.

Full Review Source: IFilm | comment Comment
01/19/01
Dave White
Dave White
IFilm

It is right to give it your adult time, when those on rich display include Redgrave, Stanton, Wright Penn, Mirren, Del Toro, Eckhart, Smith and the greatest American male star of the last 30 years.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
01/19/01
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

Penn has directed a superb film...

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A provocative morality tale, The Pledge is not only the first great motion picture of 2001, but also a film that exposes Sean Penn as being every bit as talented a director as he is an actor.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Pledge

January 11, 2009: JackNicholson.org: The Jack Nicholson Pledge Interview: Breaking His Own Embargo On Letting it All Hang Out Opens in new window
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