Rating: 
Summary: The Pledge: Disturbing and provokative yet slow
Review: I have to admit I was really looking forward to seeing Nicholson's newest film, The Pledge; however when I saw it I found that the pace of the movie came off being too slow and drawn out. Now, don't get me wrong, I thought the movie was alright, that Nicholson's performance was incredible and that the twist at the end of the movie was great, but over all it's pace was too slow and I found myself falling alseep in the chair I was sitting in while in the theatre. Now before you go tearing my head off about how dumb I am for even saying such a thing about what some people would consider one of the movie of the year kinda movies, I would like to point out that I know that suspense makes for a great dramatic movie, but when people start to fall asleep in their seats due to lack of interest at different points in the movie, a light should be going off in the directors head that the pacing was not fluid and smooth.Aside from the pacing I loved the performances. Nicholson was incredible as the retired acoholic cop determined to bring justic to a mother in grief because of the death of her young daugther. His portrayal of a man determined to not only bring justice to this young girls kiler, but too also protect the next intended victim and her mother was heartbreaking and tear jerking because he felt like everything he tried never did any good. I have to admit I knew this film was not going to be a serial killer film like the Scream and I know What You Did Last Summer movies, but I also was not expecting the ending that I got when I saw this movie. This ending completely caught me by surprise and had me leaving the theatre in a state of shock. Trust me on this...if you saw The Sixth Sense and were completely surprised, shocked, left breathless, and in awe of it's ending...the ending of this movie will leave you the same way. All in all this movie wasn't too bad(again the pacing is the only thing that I didn't like about it and could have been improved upon). I would either recommend renting it or watching or recording it when it comes out to HBO.
Rating: 
Summary: The best movie of the year
Review: This by far the best Jack Nicholson movie. It is completley misunderstood. I don't know why people didn't lke it. It sent out a great message. Det. Jerry Black(Nicholson) is going to retire then a case that he couldn't throw away came along. A young girl is kidnapped and murdered. The whole story takes place up in Reno, Nevada. They cought this guy who is menally retarted. He kills himself and then there is nothing else to do. So Jerry goes up into the mountains with a picture that the little girl drew of a giant and a black car tying to find out who it is that did this. After he swore to a victims family that he would find out who it was he cant put it away. He meets this woman who has a little girl and he tells her to stay with him for a while. Sean Penn did an excellent job directing this story. Nicholson has a good respectable character. People should understand the dangers out there and appreciate the importance of this disturbing story. It is a great movie. Nicholson and Sean Penn do another excellent teaming since 1995 The Crossing Guard. It has a terricfic cast to go along with the tale. I really liked this movie a lot and I'm sure you will. I don't know why it didn't do good at the box office. People underestimate sometimes movies like this. It might disturb you but it sends out a great message. Jack Nicholson was perfect for this character. Like I said this is his good hearted performance. It also has a twisted ending. Great cinemetography. Great directing.This movie brings out the best in this cast such as the scene with Nicholson and the prison inmate which is played by Mickey Rourke.Sam Shepard has and ppearance as Nicholsons boss. Check out the book by Freidurik Durrenmont. The reason why it's called the Pledge is because He swore on his soul salvation that he would bring justice and find the man who was responsible for killing her daughter. Once again give the movie a chance it is a great good hearted story. Best Supporting actor of the year Benicio Del Toro under pounds of make up does a superb and scary job as the first killer who is caught. I am so honored to review this movie which is inspiring. I went to see this and knowing theres not a lot of good movies I was very pleased with this one. I loved the brilliant score done by composer Hanz Zimmer who also did Hannibal. Robin Wright is terrific as the woman that stays with Jack Nicholson while he tries to find out who the murderer is. Watch the movie carefully it is twisted. And You'll love this outstanding thriller brilliantly directed by Sean Penn. I haven't done this good of a review since I gave my critique of Schindlers List. It was that good. I can't believe that I'm comparing it to such a brilliant masterpiece. Be safe,hopefully this movie gives you a good moral in it's wonderful style. Rated R for violence and adult language Director: Sean Penn Written by Sean Penn and Freidrik Durrenmont Produced by Senn Penn Music by Hanz Zimmer Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Jack Nicholson,Tom Noonan, Robin Wright, and Sam Shepard
Rating: 
Summary: Very slow and what an awful ending!
Review: When I first saw the previews to this movie I was very excited. I went to see this movie and was very disappointed! Not only do you sit through this movie wondering if there is a serial killer, but you wonder if you care at all. And when you do find out and it brings your interest somewhat back the ending kills it! (Spoiler ahead) I usually like surprise endings, but this surprise was terrible. Why would you throughout the whole movie be waiting for a serial killer and then him not showing up because of a terrible traffic accident. I mean it could happen, but when I go and see a movie about a serial killer you eventually get to the point where you want to see who it is and why? Neither of these questions is answered. Only that Jack Nickelson's character goes nuts, because the serial killer got killed and didn't show up to his ambush. I really thought this was going to be a different movie, in the likes of "Seven". It wasn't even close. Also, it could have been at least a half and hour shorter. Jack is really good in a film that really goes nowhere.
Rating:
Summary: Very Intelligent Film
Review: Reading the many reviews for this film, I have realized that modern day filmaking has dilluted our minds and left us content with watching boring "popcorn" movies such as Armageddon and The Mummy Returns. Very few movies provoke us the way a film should, as soon as we leave the theater we have totally forgotten what we have just seen. This is not the case with Sean Penn's latest collaboration with Jack Nicholson (The Crossing Guard). The Pledge is, as another reviewer stated, "a breath of fresh air" in the days that popcorn movies rule the box office. Sean Penn has chosen to make a film that doesn't follow normal conventions, all the loose ends are not tied up at the end and this is certainly not your normal serial killer movie. It isn't really even a serial killer movie it all, it is a character study of how far a man will go to keep a pledge to find the killer of a mother's daughter. Jerry Black's pledge takes him to places he doesn't want to go, and his obsession is seen through Nicholson's emotions and actions. By the end of the film Jerry Black isn't the same man he was at the beginning. Those who hated this film were expecting a big, fast, "chase the killer" movie, but what we get is one of Nicholson's best performances, and one of the best films of the year!
Rating:
Summary: Widely misunderstood
Review: I gave up reviewing movies on Amazon.com for the most part, but in seeing some of the reviews for "The Pledge" I feel compelled to put my two cents in. My opinion may not matter to anyone else but myself, but this movie had me riveted the entire time I watched it with a packed house at a matinee showing. I only mention that because after it was over I was stunned at how many people were walking out of the theater bashing it. I wondered if we were watching the same movie. I think the problem with "The Pledge" is that people came for one of two things. 1) A suspensful thriller about a serial killer that would keep them riveted to their seats in the same way "Seven" or "Silence of the Lambs" did. Or 2) A Jack Nicholson movie. What I mean by that is a film in which Jack smirks and cracks wise for two hours in the same way he's been doing the last few years. "The Pledge" is not in the same vein as recent serial killer movies because it isn't about the killer, the crimes or even the effects of the murders - it's a deep psychologocial character study of one man's using his own unrelenting hunt for absolution and justic as a means for getting up in the morning. And Jerry Black (Nicholson) is not clever Jack - he's acting Jack. Director Penn gives the film a deliberately slow pace that starts out with a bang and then BUILDS to a complex and stunning climax. The audience wants to solve the mystery, but the filmmakers are not interested in who the killer is, the filmmakers are intrigued by the perverse lengths Jerry Black will go to give himself a reason for being. Believe it or not, the main thrust of the movie (the serial killer) is more like a sub-plot, it's Black's personal descent that is the focus of the movie. I personally am a fan of both intense mystery/thrillers and deep character studies, so having a really profound look at the typical "cop" role was fresh. Nicholson shines in the role of Jerry Black, the only problem being that no matter how great an actor Nicholson is, he's still Jack Nicholson, and in the back of every viewer's mind they won't forget that he's still Jack. That makes some of Black's questionable behavior and motives even more uncomfortable, because even if an audience is used to seeing Jack smirk his way through questionable moral territory, they've never seen him REALLY bathe in it with a serious face. Yet, the film has to stand on it's own, despite any pre-conceived notions a viewer might have regarding it's content or genre. For me, it was a breath of fresh air, and the DVD release will supply more oxygen during the long summer of Michael Bay and his filmmaking brethren suffocating us with abundant special effects and hula-hoop plot holes. "The Pledge" is an emotional investment that, depending on how one likes their movies, may or may not pay off. It certainly did for me, and if nothing else just watch it for what is the defining moment of this phase of Jack Nicholson's career.
Rating:
Summary: Run-of-the-Mill Suspense
Review: Cool ending.
Rating:
Summary: Rudolf Van Den Berg's Original 1994 Film is Vastly Superior
Review: The 1994 original movie "The Cold Light of Day" is significantly better than Sean Penn's interpretation. I knew "The Pledge" was a bomb when a couple of viewers in different parts of the theater remarked on how lousy it was. The film left the Houston area about one week later headed for box office oblivion. Sean Penn made a horrible mistake in in keeping secret the identity of the sex deviate. This was frustrating to say the least and made the rest of the film seem pointless. Jack Nicholson did a good job as the alcoholic retired detective who pledges to a mother that he will find the killer of her daughter. However, Penn has Nicholson play the role of Jerry Black in such a manner as to suggest that the police officer committed himself to the case not so much as to solve it, but because the man has nothing better to do. Nicholson's character comes across as an existentially challenged individual who needs to find a purpose to make his life worth living. The murdered girl is merely an excuse to justifying getting up in the morning. Penn's real life wife Robin Wright Penn is very convincing as the mother who accepts the generosity of the much older retired officer. Initially she seeks only a relationship which will secure a loving home for the young girl. A sort of romance soon develops between the two adults which seems only to bewilder and overwhelm the man. Wasn't the recent Academy Award winner Benico Del Toro, you might ask, also in the movie? Del Toro merely has about a five minute part indulging in histrionic mannerisms as a mentally retarded man falsely suspected of a vile crime. Penn essentially wasted this great actor's enormous talent. The other actors do little to balance out the deficiencies of Penn's directing. I can give "The Pledge" only two stars. Only the true fans of Jack Nicholson will find it worth viewing. The previously mentioned "The Cold Light of Day," though, is highly recommended (four stars) as a something of a hidden gem. Rudolf Van Den Berg aptly directs this virtually unknown movie in an intelligent and exciting manner. The audience actually gets to understanding the sick motivations of the child killer. Van Berg's direction is not pretentious, and he accomplishes a lot with almost certainly a smaller budget. Sean Penn should seek instruction and guidance from Van Berg before he attempts another film.
Rating:
Summary: unacomplished
Review: I am one of the most avid collector's of Jack Nicholson's work. I have to date all but 2 films he has EVER done. I was completely and utterly dissapointed in the lack of continuity and direction. 1995's Crossing Guard was a far superior collaboration between Penn and Nicholson. The Pledge drags throughout..is much to vague in its point and manages to accomplish nothing. Nicholson's performance is solid, if not off kilter. Even the emotional struggle within the character was much more defined in The crossing guard. overall I was very dissapointed in this movie I had impatiently waited for. But of course I'll have to buy the DVD simply for the collection =)
Rating:
Summary: Probably Jack Nicholson's best movie.
Review: I've almost all of Mr.Nicholson's movies and like a good wine, this guy gets better and better with age. Don't even rent it before seeing it, but it inmediately. Much better than the last Nicholson and Penn movie. I'm really sorry that it bombed at theatres, after receiving mostly favorable reviews.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Jack Nicholson movie
Review: As Good as it Gets,A Few Good men, Batman,Terms of enerment. are peanuts compared to this. The Pledge is about Reno city Detective named Jerry Black. He's a retired cop who fishes on his spare time. He wants to solve a murder case involving young children. He swore on his soul salvation to one of the victims that he would find out who did this. I can't wait until this masterpiece comes out on DVD. Sean Penn does and outstanding job directing this tale. It has excellent music.
|
