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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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81 - 100 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

[A] beautifully made bummer.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

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

A gripping, disturbing and deeply intelligent drama.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

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

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

I'll wager you won't see a better performance by a veteran American actor over the next 11 months.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Glenn Lovell
Glenn Lovell
San Jose Mercury News

Seamlessly unsettling storytelling.

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

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

It has all the right credentials, so why is it such a muddled mess?

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
01/19/01
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
CNN.com

Just when you're about to lose patience, something honest or credible happens.

comment Comment
01/19/01
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Not a film for all tastes, but it's a considerable artistic achievement.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
01/19/01
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post

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

Smart, somber, characteristically understated and altogether chilling.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/19/01
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

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

Thanks to Nicholson, The Pledge hits viewers hardest as a superb character study, a poignant story of well-intentioned obsession.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
01/19/01
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Not a pleasant film, but it is deeply, scarily rewarding.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/19/01
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 massively pretentious, overdirected and overacted adaptation.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
01/19/01
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Citysearch

It's easily Penn's best behind-the-camera work yet.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
01/19/01
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; 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
More...

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