Rating: 
Summary: Not formulaic.
Review: I like movies that don't follow the formula. I like movies that take risks. I like movies that remain with you a couple of days after you watch them. In that regard, The Pledge is right on target. Sean Penn (director), Jack Nicholson (lead), and the rest of the cast did a fabulous job in this film. Twice, I thought I had the killer all figured out; and I'm glad I was wrong. This film takes viewers down several paths for us only to find ourselves facing a dead end.My only gripes about this movie are a)the love interest between Nicholson's and Wright-Penn's characters, and b) the ending. I will never understand why every movie must be burdened with a love interest element, even when it's obvious that it's not necessary. So we end up with totally unsavory (read, older man--younger woman, it's been done already!) pairings. But to Penn's credit, the relationship between Nicholson's and Wright-Penn's characters was more tastefully done than I've seen in other movies. Though if Nicholson had been more of a father/grandfather to Wright-Penn and the girl, it would have been just as believable. Okay, now to the ending. Many have argued for and against the ending. Though I appreciate Penn's attempt to not tie up all the loose ends and hand us the ending all tied up in a bow, the ending was still very unsatisfying. As I stated earlier, I like movies that are different; and I understand that as a viewer I must suspend belief for awhile. But it didn't seem so much like real life (as in, not all real life issues are tied up neatly) as it smacked of someone saying, "Na, na, na, na, na. This ending is silly, but it's edgier because it's 180 degrees away from plausible." Please! I think a more creative ending could have been wrought from such a marvelous build-up. Disturbing most of all were the last frames. I still think the movie could have ended up there without the pathetic ending. But that's just my opinion. But this was still a good movie that shouldn't be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing !!
Review: This movie had all the ingredients of a great film: great cast, score, and director (The Great Sean Penn). The only problem was that where was the movie going ???? The climax of the film results in a big disappointment. I don't know how JAck went along with this film expecting it to be a success. HAd this movie turned into a serial killer movie and less involved in Detective Jerry Black's psyche, the movie would have been great. You had Tom Noonan and Mickey Rourke playing the suspects, what else can you ask for. Great performances by Sam Shepard, Robin Wright-Penn, Mickey Rourke, Tom Noonan, and Benicio Deltoro (Although their characters were not allowed to expand further). An opportunity lost with a great cast. Great performance by Aaron Eckhart as the cocky police detective determined to close the case. He kept the movie entertaining. Jack as always does a good job acting, the problem is the story and it's finale. You can do without this movie. It just goes in a loop. You don't really come out being affected by it at all.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the effort
Review: This was perhaps one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time-- movies like this help me appreciate good film making. A painful drudgery to watch, The Pledge is downright ridiculous in places, most unforgivably in the places that are central to the plot. Rather than drag the viewers along like a bad joke with meager, contrived, pathetic attempts to maintain suspence, Penn would have done better to help us understand the characters involved and their role in the story. The scenes with the murdered girl's parents and with her grandmother left me astonished that an actor as accomplished as Nicholson would allow himself to remain invovled with such idiocy (a mid-western turkey farmer's wife turned voo-doo witch???? and why was the passage the grandmother read about dead children becoming angels significant to the murdered girl--- we know it makes her death oh so much more poignant???), not to mention that he allowed himself to play this retired cop with a Dirty Harry sense of justice turned blabbering idiot. Nicholson's performance was decent, but relied too much on his vest-grabbing and smug-faced trademarks rather than on exploring his character. Too bad talent was wasted throughout this movie. The scenery sure was nice.
Rating: 
Summary: Ho-hum; Not very suspenseful; there are better mysteries
Review: Besides being a vehicle for Jack Nicholson's deep talent, the plot and story line here is very lacking. I have come to expect more in this kind of entertainment/thiller/mystery. I recommend you rent before you buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Movie
Review: Typical excellent acting by Nicholson, but the movie was SLOW, poorly organized and had nothing besides Nicholson. The ending was very poorly done.
Rating: 
Summary: Penn's Best Directing Work & Nicholson In Top Acting Form
Review: This time out as a director Sean Penn did not also do the writing. He used a first rate novel, written by the late Friedrich Dürrenmatt, and adapted by first rate screenwriters Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski. It shows. The writing is complex and finely nuanced, taking no predictible Hollywood plot or character turns. The film is also highly artistic. Actors must love to work for Penn because he obtained the very best for even single scene roles. As retiring police detective Jerry Black, Nicholson is pulled into one last case and pledges to a grieving mother that he will find her daughter's killer. This sets him off on a long, obsessive course of action to trap this killer. He has an incredible amount of patience in setting his lure, much like his favorite avocation, fishing, requires of its followers. This also sets in motion his using and manipulating other people, particularly a single mother and her daughter, which heightens the tension considerably. Robin Wright Penn does her usual first class acting job as that single mother. Perhaps the most startling performance in the whole film is Benicio del Toro as a mentally handicapped Indian the police believe is the killer. Del Toro may have quite an acting future ahead if this performance is any indication of the range of his ability. He even outdoes his "Traffic" performance. I read that this film was a sensation when it screened at the Cannes Film Festival and I can certainly see why that experienced audience was so impressed. Nicholson's closing moments of acting in the film are amongst the finest in his long acting career.
Rating:
Summary: If it was an orginal idea, my rating might be higher...
Review: This is a very brooding, slow remake of the 1994 movie "The Cold Light of Day". Although I liked the original film quite a bit, this one was too slow and the ending stank. This version had Jack Nicholson playing a retired detective tracking a child-murderer. The acting was good and I was interested half-way through the film until I realized that this was an almost carbon-copy of the 1994 film. I had a real problem with the ending too. I think it was a mistake and made the whole exercise really pointless. Not to give anything away but to me, it would make more sense if Nicholson's character had to really deal with consequences of his actions with his newly found family. This movie is not really that bad, it just could have been better. A lot better...
Rating:
Summary: an unexpected pleasure ..
Review: Aside from the beautiful cinematography, and thoughtful editing, and Nicholson's stunning acting .. most reviews here mention the way the story ends - with some reviewers expressing disappointment and dissatisfaction. I would have to disagree .. the ending is exactly what lifts this movie out of the *merely good* bracket, right into the *damn powerful* category. I was expecting the formulaic denouement .. and half-resigned, I was waiting for the the usual Hollywood ending I could see approach a mile away already .. and then I was taken by surprise as the narrative made a really unexpected curve. So I say hooray! for movies and story-telling that doesn't resort to formula, and that can still grip us right to the end and linger afterwards in our mind.
Rating:
Summary: Unconventional and Mesmerizing
Review: Once again Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson team up to stuff their finger firmly into the eye of Hollywood, and with tremendous results. In "The Pledge" Nicholson plays a detective on the eve of retirement who makes a promise to catch the killer of a brutally murdered young girl. His subseqent investigation yields a string of similar murders, convincing Nicholson that he is dealing with a serial killer that has gone undetected until now. However, Nicholson's belief is based more on gut feeling than on hard-core proof, and his colleagues at the police station he used to work at comment to each other sadly that he is losing his mind. Nicholson's faith in the much younger Penn's direction is remarkable to behold. One would assume that Nicholson would be wary of putting so much of his reputation into Penn's young, and relatively new to directing, hands. But Penn does a marvelous job and constructs a wonderfully developed film that utilizes Nicholson's patented sneers and onscreen orneryness to perfection. This movie's greatest attribute is that it keeps you guessing. There are many false paths thrown in just in anticipation of clever audience members who have seen this type of drama many times before. With such a well-worked storyline, it would be easy for "The Pledge" to fall into cliche', but instead, it uses the cliches to lure you into a false sense of security before pulling the rug out from under your feet. This is a movie that is definatly worth a look, mainly for Nicholson's performance and Penn's direction, but also for small parts by Robin Wright Penn (looking as unglamourous as possible) and Mickey Rourke (who steals the show in about a two minute monologue). If you're looking for a quality piece of filmaking that is aware of convention and twists it wildly, this is the film for you.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Thriller With Nicholson At His Best!
Review: There is much to recommend in this complex and deeply layered psychological thriller featuring Jack Nicholson in what seems to have evolved into a continuing exploration into the dark side of human nature in his roles over the last decade. This is a gorgeously photographed and quite penetrating drama which on one level involves Nicholson as a dogged, troubled, and obsessed retired detective convinced the actual killer of his last gruesome juvenile homocide case is still at large, while on another level it is a stunning and all-too graphic portrait of what such single-minded concentration can do to a fragile and vulnerable personality. While it is not a movie I would recommend to the faint of heart, it is an absorbing exploration into this character's heart of darkness and the perils associated with such risky adventures. The movie is set supposedly in Reno and the surrounding Sierras, and the natural scenery that provides the stage for this drama is simply breath taking, and is worth the viewing experience for this experience alone. I was, however, disappointed to discover by viewing the end credits that the movie was largely shot in western Canada. Wherever it was filmed, the scenery provides a curious backdrop to the ugliness and sordidness of human beings, and how their own experiences and personalities blind them to the beauty in others around them. Each has been branded by the character and limitations of his or her own reservoir of emotional experiences, and each is consequently sent spinning toward a seemingly irrevocable tendency to make snap conclusions about complex realities as a result. Thus Nicholson is caught in the dilemma of not only his own troubles, but in the easy answers others have in attributin ghis actions and behavior to other motives and problems. Thus Robin Wright Penn, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shepard, Vanessa Redgrave, Harry Dean Stanton and a number of notable others blithely (and sometimes painfully) slip past the rather remarkable qualities in Nicholson's character as well as in Wright Penn's memorable turn as a woman with battered background and a beautiful little girl who lights up the screen and who also just happens to exactly fit Nicholson's bogeyman serial killer's profile. Thus, his motives for the subsequent involvement are confused at best, yet he seems to genuinely care for the new family he adopts along the way. With this, the stage is set for potential tragedy, and while I found the conclusion emotionally and dramatically unpleasing, it was admittedly indeed in the scope of the characters and circumstance to have it so ended. I recommend this, but also caution against letting one's impressionable children watch this. Like "Silence Of The Lambs" or "Seven", this is hardly juvenile entertainment. Enjoy!
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