The dreary film makes promises it doesn't deliver on, pulling the rug out from under us without really letting us step on it in the first place.
The Pledge (2001)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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.
Reviews for The Pledge
Penn's direction is given to flat, self-conscious realism. He has no feel for pacing, no cunning, no natural flow.
Thoughtlessness is no excuse ... for so revolting a film that The Pledge ultimately is. I couldn't wait to get out of the theater just to get the stink of it off me.
Moving with the speed of a paddle-boat upstream, the bulk of the movie is about as exciting as watching someone fish.
While it's never uninteresting, and its story moves sinuously, quite deft and engaging ... it eventually becomes overbearing.
Jack Nicholson's performance is one of the best of his career, and is both intense and restrained, as is Penn's direction.
It understands the relativism of right and wrong and takes a kind of perverse pleasure in reminding us that there are some things we'll never know.
It's an eerie, troubling piece of work -- a carefully crafted, existential thriller that represents a major artistic leap forward for Penn.
Jack Nicholson passes on the ham, delivering a subtle, weighted performance that neatly complements Sean Penn's growing confidence as a director.
Penn's unending parade of unhappy situations is simply too insistent, his suffocating, claustrophobic worldview more of an assault than the revelation he perhaps hopes it will be.
Much of the film's power is in the worn gravity of watching 'Jack Nicholson' as he treads through a particularly obsessive and difficult character.
Yes, it's grim, but if you don't need your plots sugar-coated, this film about life-change, obsession and keeping your word is an existential winner.
There are only varying degrees of misery in Penn's films, which make them as real as your own skin.
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.
Drags us through dark places, without convincing us it's a journey worth taking.
So logy and doom-laden that watching it feels like a hike through waist-deep snow.
Latest News for The Pledge
More Movies
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 71% 71% | Where the Wild Things Are | 03/12 |
| 83% 83% | Paranormal Activity | 03/12 |
| 89% 89% | Zombieland | 03/12 |
| 77% 77% | The Informant! | 03/12 |
| | The Strength of Water | 03/12 |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- The Pledge at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Pledge at IGN
- The Pledge at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection



Top Critic

