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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 critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

...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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/10/01
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Any opportunity to see Jack Nicholson when he's not on autopilot is exciting.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
02/07/01
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

Great acting doesn't compensate for weak writing.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
01/18/01
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Moving with the speed of a paddle-boat upstream, the bulk of the movie is about as exciting as watching someone fish.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
01/19/01
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Nicholson is infinitely compelling to watch.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/19/01
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Though at times it threatens to meander off, Penn's movie fulfills its destiny as an alienated fable of justice and luck.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/01/00
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice

Breathlessly catapults us back to the taut German films in the 1970s.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
01/19/01
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

The Pledge will cause many viewers to walk out of the theaters grumbling, since there is no traditional closure. But the way in which things turn out seems right for the material and the manner in which Penn has chosen to present it.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

There's very little compelling, or even memorable, about it.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
01/18/01
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

So logy and doom-laden that watching it feels like a hike through waist-deep snow.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
01/18/01
Tom Block
Tom Block
culturevulture.net

It's an eerie, troubling piece of work -- a carefully crafted, existential thriller that represents a major artistic leap forward for Penn.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
01/18/01
Philip Booth
Philip Booth
Orlando Weekly

A moving and unmannered motion picture -- a convincing portrait of a man at the end of his rope.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
01/19/01
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

The creation of atmosphere is so well done in this movie you could almost overlook a fairly empty narrative and a whopper of a cop-out ending. Almost.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/19/01
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Emotionally powerful film of rare and grave subtlety.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Susannah Breslin
Susannah Breslin
Film Threat

A moody morality drama about the dire consequences of keeping a promise.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
01/01/00
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Steeped in an almost unbearable sadness, dense with moral ambiguity it stubbornly withholds comfort at every startling turn.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
06/05/02
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

Packed with great performers who, no matter how briefly they may appear on camera, are given a scene or deliver a line of dialogue or even a mere look that is absolutely devastating.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
01/19/01
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

In its dark, relentless, devastatingly ironic way, The Pledge is an exhilarating movie, partly because it isn't afraid to be genuinely challenging.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe

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
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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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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