Rating: 
Summary: You have got to be kidding me.
Review: When first popping this little number into my VCR I had very high hopes for a film with such talent as Jack Nicholson, and Vanessa Redgrave. But my hopes were raped, tattered and torn as I was made to suffer through over 2hrs. of pointless, poorly-edited, bad music-driven montages which were mostly composed of images of Jack Nicholson (retired cop) fishing...and fishing...and fishing... Granted, I like fishing just as much as the next person, but my god! There's only so much a guy can take!! Anyway, the rest of the film was adorned with an empty plot and ludicrous details which the director (Sean Penn-who should stick to acting) believed were legitimate "twists." I'm not sure what Mr. Penn was trying to achieve with this film. And if he accomplished his goal, well, congratulations to him. I hope he enjoys his success while those of us who witnessed his badly composed opus are left retching in our popcorn. My advice to the movie-going public would be to stay away from this movie. It feels longer than "Titanic," (if THAT's possible)and is more pointless than every Paulie Shore film ever made. This film is Jack Nicholson at his worst. I gave "The Pledge" only one star because I'm a big Benicio Del Toro fan, although he was grossly underused.
Rating:
Summary: Did I miss something?
Review: This movie is a great idea for a story, but so poorly executed that I ended up turning it off to watch an old Marty Feldman flick because I just couldn't take it any more. The whole movie can be summarized by this: there are a lot of scenes which appear to be artistic but convey no point, and have no meaning. The plot is simple and leads up to a classic confrontation ... which never happens because the main nemesis in the movie gets killed in a random car crash before the confrontation. Throw in a lot of gratuitous product placement (Mepps comes to mind), poorly written dialogue, cheesy emotional music reminiscent of Titanic, irrational and flat characters (lots of them), and extremely long, boring chunks of film where NOTHING happens, and then add in a bunch of half-baked "background" scenes, and you have a high-budget movie which Hollywood can make a buck off of. That's it. I'm sure the actors in the movie have some talent. The Del Toro performance (which is so short as to give us, the viewers, no real indication as to what motivations or feelings might have dwelt in the character) was perhaps the only thing worth watching in the movie, and it lasted maybe two paltry minutes. If we were really meant to suspend our disbelief and think that maybe he was the culprit, it would be a good thing to spend more than five minutes total on developing the character before having him conveniently kill himself. The alternating close-up shots of the main character's eyes, the clock, and random objects in the character's field of view make me think ... hmmm, this seems to be a film that somebody is trying to get artistic with. Too bad the artistic scenes really had nothing to do with the movie, and were really just annoying interruptions. The behavior of the cops in the movie was atrocious - sadly this may be fairly true-to-life, but in the movie it just comes across as another poorly constructed reason for the main character to honor his "Pledge." Mr. Nicholson should have turned down this role, he's done good work in the past but this was [terrible]. Del Toro did some good work, but was given absolutely NOTHING to work with. Everybody did their job well, but the whole thing was brought together very poorly. Think to yourself: "how would Alfred Hitchcick have done this?" and I think you'll be on the right track; the movie could very well have been done by him, in which case it might have been a blockbuster that people would be talking about for ages. As it stands, the fairly interesting story was butchered and nobody will even remember it in two years.
Rating:
Summary: very, very, very bad!!
Review: First, I never write reviews! However, I must warn you DON'T BUY, RENT OR OTHERWISE SPEND MONETARY UNITS ON THIS MOVIE!! Despite all the previous reviews, this is the most accurate because I'm a professional couch potato. Now that I've just finished wasting MY time with this movie, let me save you what seems to be days of horrible film footage. Honestly, giving 1 star to this movie is just too generous. Anyway, choose as you will, but realize you've been warned!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie but slow !
Review: This is another flop from Franchise Pictures after Battlefield earth, Get Carter, Art Of War, 3000 miles to Graceland, but this is the best movie to come out from Franchise Pictures. Jack Nicholson gives another oscar caliber performance. Sean Penn direct but personally I think the movie is very slow moving that will bore some people. But again this is not a movie for everybody. The story about a soon to be retired cop (Nicholson) who on the eve of his retirement went along to a murder scene and get involved with the investigation of a serial killing of little girls. The ending is unusual, but I think it is very interesting. The DVD itself is great. The picture is excellent and the sound is OK as most of the movie is dialogue anyway. If you don't mind slow movie, this DVD is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly...horrible.
Review: Oko, I'm not going to spend much time on this,a s the movie already wasted two hours of my life. It starts off with promise, and then the story goes absolutely no where. All you need to know is that there is basically no climax to the story. The movie just ends after torturing you for hours with pointless scenes, in, perhaps an attempt to be artful? The story is virtually non-existant after the premise of a retired detective unable to let go of his last case. Then he goes fishing, and that's the movie. Aargh! I can't believe how bad this movie was.
Rating: 
Summary: For the film school set. Pointless.
Review: Not only is this drawn out and frankly, boring (despite a fabulous cast) the end literally cheats you out of even the slightest satisfaction. Be prepared to fast forward.
Rating: 
Summary: Pledge Retort to one Herman Nugent of Ithaca, NY
Review: Film is a very strange muse... so many of the industry releases rely on car chases, explosions and gimmicks... "The Pledge" is not about the killer, the killed, or even about the angle of the camera, it is a character study. Jack Nicholson gives a great performance...
Rating: 
Summary: Fine moviemaking and existentialism
Review: This film caused quite a debate with my 20 year old son who found it "pointless". I recalled that the writer Durenmatt was an existentialist. This explained the story. Nicholson's character, after years of acclaim, is slinking away into retirement. But he makes this last promise, uses his skills developed over many years, and is convinced to the point of obsession that he is right. Everything is set for his ultimate triumph in front of his peers, the woman he loves, and the family he made the promise to.But a chance accident not only kills the murderer but incinerates the car, not even allowing the cops to recognize the "black wagon" that Nicholson had talked about. Thus due to a chance accident his life is destroyed and he sinks into madness and alcoholism. It was the perfect ending from an existential point of view. I agree with most of the other reviewers on the performances and direction. Sean Penn is slowly becoming one of our best.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing!!!
Review: I can't believe how this movie started out fairly interesting and plunged into a downward spiral from there!! What a waste! I can't believe so many people like it, as well as they did. For those who haven't yet seen this movie -- beware of the totally dud ending!!
Rating:
Summary: Different does not always mean good.
Review: This movie has generated reviews from both sides of the spectrum. Those who really love it because it's so different and those who disliked it because it was so different. In other words what it comes down to is a movie that is so different that depending on what you are expecting, it may or may not please you. Before I go into my personal feelings of the movie, I will have to agree that Nicholson's performance of the retiring police officer was good. Many people wonder if the man can continue to do a stellar performance and it's evident that no matter how old Nicholson is, he will always be a talented actor. What I disagree with is this film being one of his prized performances and movies. Second, I agree that Sean Penn did very well as a director in this movie, the cinematography was indeed beautiful but unfortunately a stellar performance, good directing, good music and good cinematography cannot make a great movie with a storyline that leaves you feeling empty and making you say "Is that it?" This movie will go in my list of reviews of movies with strong potential but with a purpose to be different that will attract some moviegoers but more than likely will alienate people. In this list are movies such as "Arlington Road" and "Juliet in Love". As with my review of "Arlington Road", I give the the movie credit for being different and for having an ending so unlike what many people would expect but does being different mean good? Perhaps to some people. Some people found "Arlington Road" brilliant. Some people found "The Pledge" brilliant because both movies are different. Not me. As for the DVD, video and audio is good. The music sounds good but this is more of a dialogue film, so it's not one of those that you will expect to be testing out your receiver. As for special features, this movie only features a trailer and cast info (not for the whole cast...was this DVD rushed?). So, if you are in the mood for something different and have a craving for a really good recent performance of Nicholson, check this DVD out.
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