PLEDGE, THE
Released: January 12, 2001
Over twenty years ago in "The Shining", Jack Nicholson starred as a regular man driven to insanity through a course of extreme circumstances. While that movie can be described as a "horror" movie, it really was a detailing of the stages someone goes through on their way from self-control to utter dementia. Likewise, "The Pledge" is not the murder thriller as depicted in its flashy theatrical trailers. Instead of the typical "devoted cop hunts obvious bad guy" type of movie, we are given a story that remains true to its title.
Nicholson's character, a retiring cop named Jerry Black, has a hunch about a homicide that just won't go away. He then makes a promise to the parents of a murdered girl to track down her killer. The rest of the story is not, as standard Hollywood fare would have it, a by-the-numbers cat and mouse chase until the bad guy is found. In fact, we are never given any insight into the murdered girl and only brief establishing scenes with her parents are shown. The true heart of this movie isn't if the killer is found or not but simply that Black made a promise and is sticking to it. In an age when promises mean nothing, this shows a man still bound by honor and honesty.
"The Pledge" is directed by Sean Penn and is his third movie behind the camera. Like this one, his previous two films "The Indian Runner" and "The Crossing Guard" (also with Nicholson) are hardly the fodder of Hollywood blockbusters. This ain't no hollow cack like "Kiss The Girls". Of course, seeing Nicholson on screen is reason enough to see this movie but Penn has created a full canvas of image and emotion that works because we can all identify with being lost in our search for a truth. Joined by Nicholson are a fistful of other great actors including Benicio Del Toro, Aaron Eckhart, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright, Mickey Rourke (yes - he is a great actor!), Vanessa Redgrave, Sam Shepard, Harry Dean Stanton and Eileen Ryan (Penn's mother, featured in all his directed flicks).
Penn, along with exceptionally notable cinematography from Chris Menges and a remarkable production design from Bill Groom help make this a film both interesting and beautiful to watch. Hans Zimmer ("Gladiator") provides a chilling score as well. Shot to fully utilize the widescreen format, "The Pledge" may lag somewhat during its middle section but for those willing to pledge their their time and minds to this film will be rewarded. People expecting a more traditional cop thriller will be quite disappointed however - but then those people aren't "film" people - they are "blockbuster" people, and they probably thought "Kiss The Girls" was cool.
124 Minutes
Warner Bros.