The Pledge

Rating:
Summary: Geez.
Review: I am not sure I will ever see another Penn-Nicholson movie. After this and "The Crossing Guard," I am more than a little depressed.
This is a beautiful looking move with a near haunting soundtrack (which I can't find anyplace) that absolutely keeps the viewer sucked in - still, there is no point during the movie that you are not convinced that things are slowly slipping into an escape-proof abyss.
This is first class movie making, and a great performance by Nicholson, but is is really, really depressing.

Rating:
Summary: A waste of talent and resources
Review: Mediocre minds can become famous and powerful: this film attests to this fact. Sean Penn is good actor, but a poor director, and a poor judge of a screenplay. Yet obviously he has clout and credibility as an actor, so when he calls his actor buddies, out they come...Boy, oh boy, Sean, I'm impressed! You know Sam Shepherd! And Vanessa Redgrave! You even defrosted Harry Dean Stanton, but you could have thawed him out for longer than two minutes - I suppose fair's fair 'though: that's about all anybody gets. Penn thinks that if a subject is 'serious' or 'disturbing', then it justifies a long movie - the Hollywood Academy agrees with him (if you want to win the award for best picture, better make your movie over two hours). This is a very tedious story, with very few surprises, and almost no character development. Jerry Black, Jack Nicholson's character, gets obsessed, goes a bit loopy and...well, that's about it really. Why? Who cares...well, Sean doesn't in any case. To stretch out the thin material out and to hammer it into the audience that they are watching 'disturbing' and 'important' subject matter, Penn resorts to ponderous long takes - often with the opposite of the intended effect: in Benicio's interrogation scene he mumbles and shakes for so long that the cinema audience started laughing. We also get close ups of coffee pots, of bottles of whiskey; we have blurred shots, lots of camera panning, repetitive shots of Jack driving his truck on scenic roads - it looks like Sean has watched a few European films, thought some of the techniques looked good, so (why not?) bung 'em into his film, even if they are utterly pointless here. Oh, and since we're being 'cutting edge', how about some really grim crime-scene shots - yeah, let's push that envelope, baby. Clearly, as a director, Penn is a second-rate intelligence. Insulting the audience further, he thinks that a 'sad' ending, means a 'deep' film: is that really all it takes Sean? Gee, it's that easy, huh? This is boring rubbish. Jack Nicholson is a shadow of his former rudely endearing self. Robin Wright Penn does not become a better actress by having a fake broken tooth. If you want to see a slow-paced film with great moral weight and complexity, try 'Ordet' by Carl Dreyer, or 'Andrei Rublev' by Andrei Tarkovsky; or if you want an engrossing crime movie, why not 'L.A.Confidential' or 'The Untouchables'; and if you want to see the beautiful scenery in Nevada, go to Nevada.

Rating:
Summary: A Nicholson tour de force!
Review: I can't say enough about Nicholson and his acting. He plays a cop in such a way to make you believe that that's what he was always supposed to be. One has to wonder how he totally immerses himself as he does.
This was my first Sean Penn movie, and while his style does take getting used to, it's worth it. He builds suspense in much the same way Hitchcock did. There were a few scenes I could have done without, but over all it showed a master's touch.
Don't buy this movie unless you're ready for an intense, involving experience.

Rating:
Summary: Icky Topic
Review: I went to see "The Pledge" purely because of its very good director and an excellent cast. Jack is always at his best and he did very well here again. I'm not worried about revealing the actor who played the killer because as soon as I saw his name on the opening credits, it was very obvious that it had to be... "Tom Noonan". All of you should have, or will, pick that up too. A bit typecast. However, the choice of this seedy topic is not one I was too keen on viewing. Even though the issue is a possible reality in our sometimes sick and evil world, I would have preferred if the topic were altered to exclude violence on children. Personally, I don't care to view bloodied bodies of kids. It makes me wanna go grab the murderer and smack his head in. Otherwise, the movie was well made, but it left me with anger over how anyone could perpetrate such a crime. And, insanity is not an excuse.

Rating:
Summary: Bad, very, very bad.
Review: This looked on its face like a promising movie. Jack Nicholson, Benecio del Toro, Robin Wright Penn, should be good, if not for plot for acting, right? Oh so wrong. Benecio del Toro did a fabulous job as a developmentally delayed man acccused of a horrific crime, but his performance is the only bright spot in this blight of a film. His performance was not enough to rescue the film from a frustrating plot line, Jack Nicholson wandering around for half of the movie looking confused, and some continually convoluted reference to the "real killer" somehow involving hedgehogs. In summary, find a different movie for movie night, this one is waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: Dreary
Review: The critics thought this was Jack's best pic, but I thought it "bit the big one". Jack Nicholson has more talent than this. It did not do him justice. I LOVE Jack Nicholson, but hated this movie. I didn't think there was a JN movie I would dislike, but here it is.

Rating:
Summary: BORING!!
Review: This movie is quite boring as for most of the movie he is watching his back and and getting freaked out. Nothing really happens until there is about 15 minutes left. The storyline is somewhat good but there should be something happening for the first hour and a half.

Rating:
Summary: A Bait and Switch Bummer
Review: This movie is supposed to feature Sam Shepard, Helen Mirrin and Vanessa Redgrave. The truth is, the cumulative screen time for these three fine actors is less than five minutes total in a 2 hour film! That's box office bait and switch. What we get is 2 hours of uncomfortable grimaces of Jack Nickolson's old ugly face. What ever happened to that man? This picture is is advertised as being from the thriller genre. That's a lie. This flick is nothing but a bummer. If you like movies that are completely depressing downers, well you'll love this one. But only a handful of people go to movies to walk out feeling like having a stiff drink. A gallon of vodka couldn't wash this stinker away.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: The reasons for my posting a review of this movie is twofold: Firstly, it's one of the finest movies I've seen in quite a while. Secondly, I was appalled at the average review score at this time of 3 stars, so I need to fire in my five stars. So to you one-star reviewers: just because this movie upset you and didn't have a nice pat ending with big hugs, you feel the need to come here and post a short "this sucks" review of one-star? Well guess what? The best movies have the power to hold you in its grip and don't need to cater to the tidy-ending crowd. I'm so thankful I had rented this before seeing the average 3 star rating here...I likely would not have rented it. A lesson to us all. This movie is a standout. A great (what else?) performance by Jack Nicholson and near perfect direction by Sean Penn. A must see for real movie fans.

Rating:
Summary: I sat in the theater thinking of 100 other things to do!
Review: Okay first the whole reason why I went to see this movie was because I am a BIG fan the director and some of the actors in the film. BUT THIS WAS ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES I EVER SAW AT THE SHOW! If you like Sean Penn like I do then rent Carlito's Way or The Game; If you like Jack Nicholson (and who doesn't) then rent The Shining, Hoffa, and A Few Good Men; Finally if you like Benicio Del Torro I have to go with Way of The Gun, or the Usual Suspects...I was soooooooooooo disappointed with this movie, I am really trying to refrain from usual foul language to really describe how I felt as I left the theater! I can only compare watching this film to being forced to sit in a classroom with someone raking their nails on the blackboard! This was probably a much better book then a movie. One question why the hell is this on DVD and Hoffa isn't????