Rating: 
Summary: Very slow and very surprising .
Review: Third film directed by Sean Penn ( " The Indian Runner " '91 and " The Crossing Guard " '95 ).
1. If you don't like slow developing , deeply phychological films - stay away from it .
2. Homicide detective Jerry Black ( Jack Nicholson ) at his retirement party . Only 6 hours left " to serve and protect " . A phone call . Young girl is raped and killed in the woods .
- Come on Jerry , you are not a cop anymore !
- I still have 6 hours to go .
The scene is horrifying and he has to tell the parents . Then he has to give a promise to them and to God that he'll find the killer .
3. This film is more about the human mind than the investigation in this case . Obsession can drive you crazy ... but you don't know when you reach that point ... you just don't ."russianwriter"
Rating: 
Summary: poignant
Review: Jerry Black is a veteran cop on the verge of retiring when a crime occurs. A little girl is brutally killed the night of Jerry's retirement party. Jerry (Jack Nicholson) talks to the parents of the slain girl and promises them that he will find the killer and justice will be served. Since Jerry retired, he became increasingly attached to the case. His life changes for the better in a big way soon after retiring and he seems to be very happy but that crime still eats away at him. Because he promised to solve the case, he sticks with it to the dismay of his friends in the police department. Jerry's problem I think has less to do with him being unable to let things go and more to do with his inability to find other things besides police work to bring more meaning into his life.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best ever; trust me!
Review: I just want to say one thing about this flick: It is a true masterpiece. I understand that there are those who have submitted unsavory reviews. To them I would suggest two courses of action: 1)Stop being so literal, think outside the box, and become more metophorical in the way you conceptualize life, and 2) pick up a copy of Maurice Friedman's "Worlds of Existentialism". This story is a case study in Yalomian isolation. The acting is perfect, cinematography flawless. FOR THE SERIOUS MINDED ONLY!
Rating:
Summary: INTENSE!....
Review: Bravo to Sean Penn for bringing us a psychological thriller that is both intellegent and unpredicatable.If I could only use one word to describe this film I would have to say INTENSE! Jerry Black(Jack Nicholson) is about to retire from his duties as a homicide detective in Reno, Nevada. Nicholson's portrayal of this cop is so strong, that we can see what he is feeling and thinking by one raise of those famous eyebrows.Already we can see that he is regretting his retirement. Amidst the retirement party his fellow offficers are throwing for him, word comes of a horrible crime. A little local girl has been brutally assaulted and murdered. Jerry cannot help but to become involved with this case.He is the one who must tell the parents the devasting news, at which point he makes a solemn promise to the girl's mother, that he will not rest until this deranged killer is caught! All evidence points to one suspect. The suspect confesses, and in a bizarre twist takes his own life. Jerry though has instincts that tell him this was not the murderer. He becomes obssessed with finding the true killer,he puts his life on hold and at the risk of alienating all his friends, devotes himself to the task. He also meets and falls for a woman who has a daughter around the age of the murder victim and becomes obssessed with protecting her as well.Jerry falls deeper and deeper into his own dark world, as the tension mounts. Nicholson has given us many fine performances over the years to be treasured, this one though, to me, was his best character study since "Five Easy Pieces". Penn has done a brillant job behind the camera, and also has chosen a well seasoned cast to add to this fine film. It includes Benecio Del Toro, Aaron Eckhart, Helen Mirren, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shephard, Harry Dean Stanton, Vanessa Redgrave Lois Smith, and Robin Wright Penn.A brilliant screen play by Jerry and Mary Olsen-Kromolowski.
Add to that a haunting score by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt and incredible camera work by Chris Menges, which takes in the snowy scapes in sharp contrast to the murder and you have a story you won't soon forget. I would reccommend this film to anyone who has a taste for something out of the ordinary. It is not for the sensitive viewer though. If you've seen the film already and know you like it, you can count on a good transfer by Warner Bros, to the DVD. It is a crisp and clear picture presented widescreen. Colors and sound(Dolby 5.1 surround) are outstanding as well.It may be viewed in French(also in the 5.1)and has subtitles in English and French(Dubbed in Quebec) as well.Other than a theatrical trailer you will not find much in the way of extras. But you might just want to start the movie over and watch it again.
Go for it...Laurie
Rating: 
Summary: Just bad
Review: Jack Nicholson turns in a great performance in this slow plodding movie.Jack clearly made this movie as a favor to his friend Sean Penn.Penn should stick to acting.The cut aways the distracting music,very disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Cheers to Penn and Nicholson!!
Review: Best buddies Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson show what decent work they can turn out when Penn is in the director's chair and Nicholson is on the screen in all his splendor. The film is sluggish at times and the feel of the whole thing is nothing cheerful, but the performances alone make it worthwhile. American audiences have come to expect happy endings in their movies, which is why this one didn't fare too well at the box office. In any event, highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Penn vehicle needs more gas (spoilers)
Review: This could have been a great movie, and more's the tragedy, because so much comes off so well in the first 100 minutes you actually have hope for Sean Penn's directorial career. Instead, the movie's ending unravels all that came before. The shortcomings of this movie's endings are manifold and constitute its principle weakness; you leave feeling decidedly cheated. Nicholson's character turns irretrievably stupid (Let's put the little girl in harm's way! No, we don't need to further investigate that car crash on the road leading to the picnic grounds!), so you have to wonder how the writers had any confidence in his abilities at all. Existential? Well, yeah, but highly improbable, as is his romance with Lori (Robin Wright Penn), the truck stop waitress. (Please, Hollywood -- give it up. Leading men need to stop dating women 30 years their junior. It's not 1974 and this ain't "Chinatown".) It's yet another movie that thinks it's smarter than the audience by providing an unsatisfying "realistic" ending, but that ending rests on a character who's clearly too dumb to be a veteran cop. All that said, Nicholson turns a great performance -- probably the best we've seen since "The Witches of Eastwick". Whoever cast this movie should have won an Oscar (for which there sadly is none) -- the people in this film are about as perfect for their roles as you could ask. Sadly, the writing doesn't live up to their performances.
Rating:
Summary: Nicholson And Penn Do Not Disappoint 4.5 stars
Review: Many appear to be let down by the quality of this film. This may due to the unconventional ending, or perhaps that Sean Penn has not made a career of concerning himself with his popularity. If the familiar wrap up storyline with the hero prevailing against all odds, and the satanic criminal getting his due in a manner measured in quality by its brutality, you will not like this film. This will also not satisfy fans of Jack Nicholson that prefer his performances like the one given in, "A Few Good Men". This role does not resemble he created as the wonderfully mad Joker, or his ax-wielding character created by Stephen King, and brought to the screen by Nicholson. Nicholson's character Jack is the odd man out, a newly retired detective that loses not only the respect of his former peers but also any legitimacy for his talents proven over decades. The void his departure creates is quickly filled by avaricious young officers that are inept to the point of laughter and tragedy. They like the quick and easy solution, they too are comfortable with the easiest answer, the right answer cannot be said to elude them for they are not interested enough to pursue it. Jack is of the old school, a promise has meaning, crimes are not solved in hours, and evidence of a pattern of crimes is not shunted aside as inconvenient. Obsessed is too strong a word for Jack's continued awareness that the crime is not solved. And it is here that Penn brings a storyline that appears, and may in fact be innocent, that nevertheless leads to Jack's fall. I was starting to lose interest as the similarities in Jack's life appeared to evolve too neatly in to continuing the story toward a conventional close. When a little girl picks a red dress I almost gave up. The events that follow have Jack breaking down, compromising the safety of persons he would normally be loathe to doing, or does he? I liked the ending; I had never seen a similar close to a film nor one that was absolutely complete from one point of view, and terribly incomplete and destructive from another. To enjoy the movie you need to be satisfied with a conclusion that does end what is most important, and ends it correctly in a macro sense, while it will leave you frustrated when looked at on a character by character basis.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Drama from Sean Penn
Review: This moody, brooding character study examines how intuition born of a lifetime's work can lead to unhealthy obsession, the effects of which, in the end, can ultimately render the basis for it irrelevant, especially when particular circumstances are introduced that serve to derail the initial focus and prevent the possibility of a tenable resolution. "The Pledge," directed by Sean Penn, is an incisive, probing drama of a driven man who is psychologically and emotionally incapable of letting go of an event that-- in his mind, at least-- remains unresolved. And it explores that aspect of human nature that, in certain individuals, at any rate, refuses to allow disregard of even a perceived infraction of justice; it's a matter of being imbued with a kind of innate moral code and being obliged to follow it-- regardless of where it may lead. Detective Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) of the Reno P.D. has come to the end of an illustrious career; it's time to pull the pin and go fishing. But Jerry's retirement party is interrupted by the report of the brutal murder of a young girl, whose body has just been found in the woods. Officially, Jerry only has six hours left on the clock, but he insists on being a part of the investigation. And it's a decision that is ultimately going to have a decided effect on the rest of his life; not only because of the heinousness of the crime, which creates the kind of image that will forever haunt even a seasoned professional like Jerry, but because Jerry makes a promise to Margaret Larsen (Patricia Clarkson), the bereaved mother of the murdered girl, that the individual responsible will be found and brought to justice. Jerry's life takes an irreversible turn, however, when a suspect is apprehended and charged with the crime, but prevailing circumstances and Jerry's intuition lead him to believe they have the wrong man. By the cold light of the next morning, though, Jerry is retired, and the case is no longer his concern; but justice, and the promise he made to the girl's mother still is, and whether he wants it or not, Jerry's involvement with this case is going to follow him into retirement. No matter where he goes or what he does, it will always be a part of him, a constant companion. And sooner or later, it's something that is going to have to be resolved, with or without the help and resources of the department to which he dedicated so much of his life. One way or another, Jerry-- responding to some subconscious impetus-- is going to solve this case, and he's going to do it his way, and to his satisfaction. Until then, in his mind anyway, this case is still "open," and will remain so, until he deems otherwise and the forces compelling him at last subside. And leave him in peace. As an actor, Sean Penn has demonstrated a range and depth of emotion that at times fairly implodes (as with his portrayal of Matthew Poncelet in "Dead Man Walking"), and with such strength that the outward reverberations of it have a decided impact on the film. And his subtle approach as a director has the same effect here. His studied presentation and deliberate pace creates an underlying tension that runs through the film like a wire being slowly drawn tighter and tighter until it is taut to the point of breaking, and his hand is constantly on that wire, controlling it-- allowing it some slack to effect a false sense of security, for example, before snapping! it back again, and making the drama of the story riveting in a way that definitely keeps the attention of the audience. He attaches you to Jerry Black as he quietly leads him through a field of emotional land mines, and it keeps you involved; indeed, as a viewer, you have no choice, and like Jerry, you have no respite from the situation, which enables you to relate to Jerry on a very personal level. And that connection is reinforced further by Jerry's involvement with a single mother, Lori (Robin Wright Penn), a waitress at a local diner; and as their friendship evolves, Penn twists that wire even more, and the tension escalates. This is commendable work by Penn, who has taken a basically good story (the screenplay is by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski, based on the book by Friedrich Durrenmatt) to a higher level and turned it into a penetrating, insightful drama. The combination of Penn and Jack Nicholson makes for an effective collaboration, in that Nicholson approaches his character, Jerry, with that same sense of reflective introspection that Penn brings to the film as director. And it works splendidly; Nicholson creates a character who is always seemingly on the edge, and you can feel that ever present tension and sense of discontent that defines who Jerry really is and what he's all about. On a certain level, Nicholson's portrayal is reminiscent in attitude and perspective of the character he created so memorably in "Ironweed," Francis Phelan. This is a guy who plays the game of life with a perpetual poker face on; he maintains a reserved countenance that belies the constant roiling going on behind his eyes. And the fact that Nicholson can convey all of this so well, even in his (or Jerry's) most guarded moments, is what makes his performance so powerful and convincing. He plays it entirely from the inside out, and the result is an absorbing, unforgettable character. The supporting cast includes Benicio Del Toro (Wadenah), Vanessa Redgrave (Annalise), Sam Shepard (Eric), Aaron Eckhart (Sam), Mickey Rourke (Jim) and Tom Noonan (Gary). Sean Penn has a way of telling a story that is uniquely his own, and it's that distinction that sets "The Pledge," apart and makes it so engaging. This isn't a "throw-away popcorner," but one you're going to want to mull over for awhile after the screen has gone dark.
Rating:
Summary: 'Shame he didn't fall in the ice at the beginning
Review: Yikes! Who convinced Nicholson that was a good script? Jack and Sean must be drinking buddies, because Jack would never have agreed to taint his name with this one sober. I have seen more than one director talk about the pain of having to cut scenes out of a picture to meet time restrictions. This leads me to believe that the nature of movie making is make the film much longer than you think it needs to be, then trim the extra bits, leaving only the most important aspects. This monstrosity views like it originally panned out to about fifteen minutes, and then spliced in two hours of fishing scenes to fluff it up. No offence to Bill Dance and his fans, but if I wanted to watch fishing, I would turn on The Nashville Network. The directing is mawkish, the cinematography is boring, the music stinks, and the story itself is filled with one anti-climax after another, until we reach the ultimate unfullfilling anticlimax, about an anti-hero, in what should have been an anti-movie. I wasn't tired after watching this film, I was bored. I originally intended to give this movie two stars (as I did actually make it through to the end), but after writing this review it is apparent to me that it really could not have been any worse. One star it is.
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