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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 source; 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

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

Drags us through dark places, without convincing us it's a journey worth taking.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/18/01
Steve Murray
Steve Murray
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
06/12/01
Marrit Ingman
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle

As enthralling as it sometimes is, there isn't any point to the relentless grimness.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/12/01
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC

The languidly paced Pledge builds slowly but eventually holds you firmly within its grasp.

comment Comment
01/19/01
George Thomas
George Thomas
Beacon Journal

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
02/07/01
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

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 task is well-served not only by a superb cast but the efforts of first-rate collaborators.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Wade Major
Wade Major
Boxoffice Magazine

Seamlessly unsettling storytelling.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
02/07/01
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

Penn and Nicholson take risks with the material and elevate the movie to another, unanticipated, haunting level.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/19/01
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Thanks to a superb central performance by Nicholson as detective Black, it's a film that compels, thrills and ends up coming very close to tragedy.

comment Comment
01/18/01
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

É uma pena que nem todos tenham paciência para tentar compreender melhor Jerry Black. Tenho certeza de que, no futuro, este será lembrado como um dos personagens mais marcantes da bela carreira de Jack Nicholson.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
05/02/03
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

We left with a feeling of lethargy that made watching The Pledge hardly worth the effort.

Full Review Source: CinemaSense.Com | comment Comment
01/19/01
Cornell & Petricelli
Cornell & Petricelli
CinemaSense.Com

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

A massively pretentious, overdirected and overacted adaptation.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
01/19/01
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Citysearch
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

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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