Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining Detective Story
Review: Jack Nicholson plays a detective in Nevada who has just retired. There is a heinous, bloody murder of a pretty, blonde-haired school girl, and Jack Nicholson just can't stay out of the case. He discovers the M.O. is like that of a few others in a certain area.
It's close to a traditional detective movie, with much suspense. Where it deviates from a traditional detective movie is that it's more of a character study of the detective. Jack Nicholson, who I am not crazy about, plays the role of a retired detective perfectly.
Where these things tend to fail is that in a two hour Hollywood movie, done by the formula, I think it's hard to present a full characterization. I wished for a better ending.
This is the third movie Shawn Penn has directed.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid this movie
Review: I thought when I was going to the theater to see this,I said hey it has Jack Nicholson in it,how bad could it be?Well,it was really bad,and really long and boring.Jack Nicholson is usually a pretty good actor,but not this time.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING -- Lets talk about the ending
Review: If you don't want to know the ending, don't read this.
If you want to know why the ending is absurd, stay with me. The final sequence has detective Jerry Black (Nicholson) setting up what we think might be the climactic ambush. However, en route to the scene, the killer gets into an accident and he and his truck explode into flames. Nope -- this isn't a joke. Then, because of the killer's absence (do killers always show up? 100% attendance at every ambush?), Nicholson's detective goes literally out of his mind -- even though he doesn't know why the killer failed to show. How can the killer's death be a catalyst for Nicholson's descent into madness while the writer contrives to keep him ignorant of the killer's participation in the crash? Doesn't make sense.Is the ending a surprise? The film opens with a shot of Nicholson mumbling incoherently to himself and then back-tracks to tell us how he
got into such a state. The killer commits heinous crimes against children. We know from the beginning that Nicholson will end up crazy and we expect the villain to be exterminated. There's no ambiguity to the Killer's fate. He is dispatched in a ball of flames. How many times have we seen that? The only twist then, is that the villain is sent to his doom by the writer rather than the detective. After that, there is some mild frustration that Nicholson doesn't see the big fat clue staring him right in the face (the burning truck). But, I would argue that this is the same kind of frustration one feels in a cheap horror film when a character goes into a dark basement to check out a noise. It is the kind of frustration that comes uniquely from plot contrivance, not the frustration that comes from the messiness of real life.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting & worthy, if not entirely successful
Review: I was first drawn to this film because it was filmed largely on location in and around the Okanagan-Similkameen region of British Columbia, where I live. Others in town who watched the film, partly for the same reasons, I suspect, were disappointed with it. I certainly, then, did not have my hopes set too high when I rented out this movie. I am pleased to say, then, that this film had a depth I did not expect, so I was not wholly disappointed. Sean Penn's psychological drama, set within the framework of a suspense thriller (though he eventually ties himself loose from many of the expected conventions), begins looking like a standard cop movie, with the exception of the opening credits, which give a taste of what is later to come. The first forty minutes or so has nothing to distinguish it from an episode of Law and Order, following a fairly hackneyed format: Nicholson is the retiring cop, fretting about life outside the force, who takes on one last case - a child murder - on his way out. All in all, this first section of the film is rather lacklustre. In one crucial scene, from the events of which the film takes its title, Nicholson vows to the murdered girl's mother that he will find her child's killer and bring him to justice, swearing by his own soul's salvation that he will do so. Thus the stage is set, albeit in a pretentious manner that could hardly have been executed less obliquely, for a story in which Nicholson becomes redeemer, setting off on a quest to redeem his own self, bereft of purpose in life, and be saviour to a grieving couple bereft of their only daughter. It is from this point on that Penn starts to work outside of the conventions, and blazes a trail full of ambiguities and questions as Nicholson makes it his ambition to find the child-killer. The ambiguity that characterizes every turn of the plot is suggested by the opening titles, and is reintroduced when Nicholson makes his pledge. Who is he doing it for? What motivates him? At opposite poles, we have his own sense of bereavement and angst in the event of his retirement, and the emotional reaction to seeing a murdered girl and her distraught parents. Is this about Nicholson, about the girl, or about the grieving parents? Or is it wider? We are given other reasons throughout the film that might motivate him and give a more expansive scope to his mission. This sort of incertitude is typical of the tone of the rest of the film. Ultimately, we are left none the wiser. Understandably, appetites accustomed to the standard Hollywood fare are left unsatiated by Penn's conclusion. We discover that Nicholson's existential quest to save himself and, in the process, save others, is a failure. And, indeed, we wonder whether all attempts to find salvation are similarly doomed. God and religion are treated no more favourably as solutions to the search for meaning than Nicholson's own attempts at salvation. As we watch Nicholson's descent into madness and frustration, we are get the uneasy feeling that all search for meaning and redemption is inevitably futile, and bound to lack of resolution. Perhaps, though, the film was intended merely to provoke such questions, rather than necessarily answer them. After all, so many questions are thrown up unanswered throughout the film that one can't possibly go away from The Pledge without reeling from the puzzles and riddles presented. The uncertainties of Penn's film reflect the wider ambiguities of human existence and endeavour, and it is those uncertainties that the viewer will leave thinking about. Nicholson turns in a great performance, as usual. The location filming is beautiful (I say that with an element of bias, of course), and the film is visually compelling. The haunting score, when it avoids cliches at the hands of veteran composer Hans Zimmer, complements the film's visual beauty.
Rating: 
Summary: Great actors, foolish choices
Review: The pledge could be used an instructional film to show actors how to handle the challenge of poor
material. Nicholson tries his best to swim, but most often, the cement shoes of a script sinks him. The film begins by showing that Nicholson's character has gone around the bend. The story is supposed to
tell us how he lost it. I didn't buy it. For one thing, I couldn't believe this guy could have ever solved a case before. He uses really dumb tactics.
Setting up a swing near the highway to try to lure the killer with his girlfriend's daughter? Then he forgets to
stake it out? Hello? Also, hasn't this guy ever had a tough case before? Have all of his cases been really easy
to solve? The first tough one drives him nuts? "There's no evidence and my dumb absent-minded tactics aren't
working and I promised I would find the killer, oh no I'm losing it?" How did this guy last as a detective? In the big ambush scene, he's popping his head out, yelling to other policemen. How can you be a detective and not know the basics of hiding? His girlfriend shows up and [bawls] him out in the middle of his "stake-out?" She goes home with the bait (the little girl). Doesn't he think these things might have given the trap away? How does he know at that point that he's never going to solve the case? "If I can't solve the case with a really sloppy ambush, I'll never solve it?" Why didn't he
investigate the truck that was on fire? Don't buy this unless you like yelling, "sheesh!" At the screen every few minutes.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst films ever
Review: The plot of this movie is completely formulaic, the cop on the verge of retirement is pulled into one last case,
he makes a pledge to the girl's mother to catch the killer, becomes obsessed with the victim, has information, but no one will believe him. Except that Jack Nicholson and Robin Wright Penn are asked to act such implausible scenes with such leaden dialogue -- you feel sorry for them. When the film languishes, which is most of the time, Penn tries to goose you with cornball action scenes. Example; Nicholson's character, Jerry, sets up a swing near the highway so that the sight of his live-in lover's little girl swinging will draw the killer so Jerry can swoop in and catch him. But, our supposedly obsessed inspector seems to forget his plan. He's upstairs when he hears a truck slowing down outside. OH, NO! Will he get down the stairs in time?!! By the time he gets there the truck is driving off and he just can't run fast enough to catch the suspect, who has left the girl behind -- I guess so the movie can last longer. This is a perfect example of what is wrong with this movie. This is a cliche so tired you can't believe Penn could
get himself out of bed to film it. You don't usually get such cheap and clumsy tactics outside of, perhaps, a Friday The Thirteenth knock-off. The film school camera work only makes the sequence more ridiculous. Handling formula material badly is not the same as challenging formula. Tacking a weird ending onto a long cliche ridden movie is like putting canned plum sauce on spam. Sean Penn is one of our most talented actors, but as a director, one has to wonder why he was drawn to this material. Was it to attempt a "Treasure of Sierra Madre" type of ending because it was so cool when the Coen Brothers did a variation of it with Fargo? Maybe it was just an excuse to hang with Jack. Lots of great movies leave you suspended. This one leaves you asking, "are you kidding me?" Save your money...
Rating:
Summary: Why?
Review: Recently director Penn lamented the gun culture of contemporary cinema. Seeing as 'The Pledge' is arguably a horror film, albeit the horror slowly dawning on the audience from an unexpected source, isn't the picture merely one big gun pointed at the audience's head? I really don't know what attracted him to the frankly emetic story line, but this isn't necessarily less pernicious than a lot of other Hollywood product, especially that uncalled for moment in the church.
Rating: 
Summary: Murder, Obsession, Truth
Review: Jack Nicholson turns in what has to rank as his finest performance to date in the role of Jerry Black. We're all used to the Nicholson of the evil grin, quick temper and sharp tounged taunts, but here Nicholson does not rest for a moment on his laurels - he ACTS! Nicholson loses himself - and his sterotypical trademarks - in the character of a retired Nevada police detective who, on the day of his retirement party, accepts the sad duty of informing a couple that their daughter has been brutally murdered. The grieving mother makes him promise to find the killer. This film holds you loosely in its grip at first putting you on the path of what seems a fairly standard crime caper "who done it"? It's grip gets tighter and tighter however as we realize this is no ordinary crime solving excercise for the audience but instead an intense pyscological drama. Nicholson, although retired, "Jerry, you don't work here anymore!" continues to hammer away at the case. The subtle changes in his personality begin to pile up on each other one by one until they threaten to cave in. The scene between Nicholson and a psycholanalyst he visits to assist him with clues, and then gets analysed himself, is one of the most powerful pieces of film I've seen in a long while. Seamless direction, a supporting cast with talent to spare, and an interesting soundtrack make this film a memorable and haunting experience. You may want to hit the rewind button to catch Francoise Yip as the airport bartender.
Rating: 
Summary: WOW!
Review: I just saw this movie last night. I was exhausted, I needed to go to bed, but could not. If all you know about Jack Nicholson is "As Good As It Gets" this is a movie that will surely convince you that he is one of the greatest actors of our time. I was completely drawn in by this film and all of the actors. If you want a "good guy always wins in the end" kind of flick, forget The Pledge. But, if you want a fantastic, thoughtful film, this is a winner!
Rating:
Summary: Epilogue
Review: When the book by Friedrich Dürrenmatt was first published here in Switzerland in the late fifties, people were as upset by its open end as they are today by Sean Penn's adaptation. What happened back then, was Dürrenmatt having amended his plot. His epilogue goes as follows ... Stan Krolak [Aaron Eckhart], the young police detective - after some investigation - ends up in the "Land of Christmas" store (as you might recall, Jerry Black [Jack Nicholson] has been in there before, as he was looking for the grandma of Ginny Larsen, Ms. Hanson [Vanessa Redgrave]) [etc].... I did like the move though, with the Nevada scenery resembling strongly the Graubünden region here in Switzerland where Dürrenmatt's original play took place....
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