Rating: 
Summary: A must see!
Review: This movie is a delight all the way through: Good acting, good, slow-but-deliberate pacing, undestandable motivations, unpredicatable plot. The end is incredible, both from an acting point of view, and from the view that it fits so perfectly with the rest of the movie, but is so unexpected from a Hollywood film. I was thinking about the film for days... Bottom line: The film would be best described with the phrases dark, slow paced, actor's showcase, good dialogue, unconventional ending. If that describes your kind of film, see this, 5 stars. If not, stay away. dap
Rating: 
Summary: A fine directorial effort by Sean Penn
Review: Sean Penn's third directorial project portends a promising future behind the camera. Despite having to overcome a somewhat flawed screenplay, Penn shows talent at creating a textured character study with some wonderful photography thrown in. While the film drew criticism for its deliberate pace, every scene adds another brushstroke to the human canvas and develops the characters richly. This film is not an action adventure thriller, and it was never intended to be. The only criticism I have of Penn's direction is his failure to rectify a number of plot flaws (such as the gas station transaction which was ridiculously unbelievable). The story follows Detective Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson), who on the day of his retirement from the police force is called in to help solve one more case involving the murder of a little girl. When the case is closed after a confession is coerced out of a simpleton, Jerry is not convinced. He made a pledge to the victim's mother to find the killer and he doesn't feel that he is being true to that pledge. So, he buys a gas station in the area he suspects that the killer resides and does a little investigating from within the community. Penn keeps the film intriguing, giving us subtle clues that cast suspicion on numerous characters as possible murder suspects. At one point I even thought the murderer might have been Jerry. Ultimately the murderer is revealed, but the ending is unsatisfying, leaving the viewer without the vindication of seeing him properly brought to justice. Nicholson is at his moody and sardonic best in this film. He has an innate ability to play the complex and offbeat character to perfection, always believable despite being on the fringe of mental instability. Robin Wright Penn takes an unglamorous role portraying a hard working lower class mother and gives a tremendous performance. Aaron Eckhart is obnoxious and unbelievable as detective Stan Krolak, but Benicio Del Toro is outstanding as the simple minded Toby, who gets pinned with the murder because he was seen in the area. This is a good film with a mediocre story and a promising outing for Penn. I rated it a 7/10. Action junkies will be bored but for those who enjoy a good character study it is worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful1
Review: I have seen a string of lousy movies over the past months... some Oscar-winning movies, not of which left me with anything; and many I cannot even remember. I knew nothing about The Pledge before I saw it, the best way to see a movie. It grabbed me from the beginning. Sean Penn deserves cudos for taking on this existential story, and develop it into a visually beautiful, totally believable film. Nicholson's portrayal of this sympathetic character, going deeper and deeper into his quest of honoring a promise kept the film going. And the sprinkling of jewel-like cameo performances seemed like Penn's gifts to the viewer, which also kept the film going...giving us just enough of Benicio Del Toro, Vanessa Redgrave, Mickey Rourke, Harry Dean Stanton, etc. I am still thinking about The Pledge. It was as if Fate was a main character. I think it's the puzzling endings that keep you thinking. And I think many of life's experiences have the same unresolved endings. Too many movies pander to the audience's need to the neat, pat conclusion, when in reality, life is not like that.
Rating: 
Summary: shoot the screenwriter!
Review: As several reviewers have rightly pointed out, the movie starts out with promise but completely fails to deliver any resolution. The screenwriter was apparently unable to figure out a satisfactory climax to the story, and simply gave up. What a shame -- the acting is fine, and the story generates plenty of dramatic tension, but then the movie just fizzles out. This was one of the most disappointing films of 2000.
Rating:
Summary: Good movie until the end
Review: This is a good movie and it is an interesting story and it flows well from the beginning. It isn't predictable at all which is always good also. I was enjoying the movie until it got to the end. I understood the ending, I got what they were telling me but all I can say is it was stupid!!! The end of the movie wastes the rest of the movie for me. Until the end the movie was probably a 4 for me, the ending was a 0 so I gave it a 2. I wouldn't watch this movie again and I don't recommend it for others.
Rating:
Summary: good movie, uncomfortable subject matter
Review: This movie is really good! I think some people had trouble with the subject matter and that may cloud their viewing of the movie. Plus, it didn't have big action sequences, fighting, etc. to give it the usual big screen formula sucess. The movie did not end in a tidy package, "ie" killer found, cop vindicated, new life and love in perfect setting. Instead the movie followed a path that shows one mans haunted obsession and the path it takes him on, with the fraility of human emotions.
Rating:
Summary: READ THE BOOK
Review: The movie is well worth seeing for Nicholson's performance. He is brilliant. But don't expect it to make sense unless you've read the book by Friedrich Durrenmatt, which is very worth reading on it's own merits. In the book, Nicholson's character is depicted skillfully so that his motivations and actions are understood clearly. The pivotal point of clarity comes when, in the book, Nicholson's character is ecstatically happy that the little girl has met the killer. But in the movie, Nicholson's character is, and has been all along, afraid for the child. We see a man whom we believe to be compassionate and protective suddenly revealed at the end to be so obsessed that he would sacrifice a child to catch a killer. The screenplay just did not develop Nicholson's character to be someone whose actions at the end would make sense. Also, the screenplay didn't tell the real story. The real story is about the mind of a criminologist. The movie leads the audience to believe it's a murder mystery, until the end, which only leaves us feeling confused and unsatisfied. The book is well-written, translated from the German, I believe, and is set in Switzerland. It's a fast read, only 172 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent. The other reviewers saw something else!
Review: First, if Nicholson is in a film, I'll like it. Well, almost always. ("Mars Attacks" is something I could do without.) So I went to see it. HE'S RIGHT! That's all I'll say of the plot except that Nicholson's character, a retired cop, pursues the truth of a murder case based on (1) the dubious technique of one of his overzealous colleagues who prodded a confession from an obviously mentally ill individual (played masterfully by Del Toro) and (2) a strong sense of intuition that he COULD find the real culprit. The case is closed because of the confession and something else you should see the film to recognize, and Nicholson's pursuit of the real killer is seen more and more by everyone else as a symptom of his own growing psychosis! What's more, at the very beginning AND end (See it if you're trying to figure out what I'm talking about.) Nicholson is a self-absorbed crackpot who's trying to figure out how he could be wrong...which even he doesn't know he wasn't. Brilliant story line. Since seeing the picture, I think a lot about it, indeed, identify with Nicholson's character. I'm leaving a job working for a person whom most think has an outstanding work ethic; most see the individual as the ultimate in self-sacrifice, near martyrdom. Were someone to criticize that person, for the person's narcissism, self-absorption and, frankly, aristocratic laziness, as I'm prone to do, he or she would be be shunned as a heretic. But they're right! So the film is a portrayal of a very real life situation! Thanks, Sean Penn. I think the film is brilliant. The others who criticized it either saw something different than the film I saw or are too unintelligent to put the story together and fit it into "life." That's their problem.
Rating:
Summary: What is it with you non-understanders?
Review: Before I decided to buy this movie, I read reviews, trying to find out if it really was worth a look. I like the movie genre, and Jack of course, so this seemed like it could be a hit. So many said they did not uderstand the "artsy" ending, and did not like how the movie ended. Sorry, don't mean to be so harsh. But what fantasy world of eternal Pokémons do these people live in? I don't want go give away the ending, but let's just say. Why can't people face that there are other ways of ending a movie than with a smile and a happy dance. It's life you know. Life doesn't come with a shoe shine and doesn't always go perfect. I was very surprised that anyone could say "I did not understand the ending". It's all so very straight forward, not hard at all. I could understand it if the person was like 5 years old or something, but that isn't the case. This is a beautiful movie, about life in all it's glory. Yes, it's a bit long, does not contain Bruce Willis flying out a window screaming his loungs out, but what it does contain is a great story, great characters and a chance for the viewer to think, and to face life's more darker side. A masterpiece really. Watcht it! :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Decent
Review: I would just like to say that this movie was not all bad, but it could have been a lot better. It ran quite slow, but it was nicely acted, written, and directed. The ending was OK, but I was suspecting one to be a lot better, and it left me with a feeling of "is that it??". I found some scenes quite annoying like the questioning of Benecio del Toro. In short it was alright but definetly not a keeper.
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