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The Pledge
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn |
| MPAA Rated: |
R |
| Released By: |
Warner
Bros. |
| Kiddie Movie: |
Lots of graphic
photos and adult subject matter. Leave them with the
sitter. |
| Date Movie: |
She will probably
hate the ending. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Nah. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Gruesome photos. |
| Action: |
Some good
suspense. |
| Laughs: |
Nah. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
The ending. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
None. |
| Directed By: |
Sean Penn |
| Produced By: |
Michael
Fitzgerald, Sean Penn, Elie Samaha |
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The Pledge
A Movie Review |
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I’m going to come right out and say that I’m giving "The
Pledge" 5 stars out of 5. If you want to know why, well, sadly
I have to spoil the ending a little, although I won’t tell you
exactly what happens. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. But why the
glowing recommendation right off the bat? Well, "The
Pledge" is a good drama/thriller, and not even the best, but
Sean Penn and whoever else had the final say didn’t take the cheap
and easy way out to make the audience all warm and fuzzy as they
were leaving the theater, instead someone finally had the balls to
end the movie, as one man put it as he was leaving, more realistic.
His wife retorted back "But I like happy endings." If you
are like that wife than you, too, will hate the ending for "The
Pledge."
"The Pledge" stars Jack Nicholson as Captain Jerry
Black. Jerry is retiring from the force, but once a cop and always a
cop, and on the last day of retirement he investigates his last
case, a brutal murder of a little girl. The case seems open and shut
with the arrest of a mentally challenged Indian, but Jerry doesn’t
think it is that simple. He asks his old superior officers to reopen
the case, they feel Jerry is just trying to hold on to his old
police life and don’t, so Jerry begins his own investigation. Why
is Jerry so hell-bent on finding the real killer? Well, Jerry made a
promise to the little girl’s parents that on his soul he would
find the killer, he still has cop inside of him, and begins an
elaborate plan of searching out the killer.
His plan is way out there, beginning with his purchase of a
roadside gas station in the area he feels the killer lives so that
he can keep a lookout for anyone in a black station wagon. Then,
along the way, he runs into Lori (Robin Wright Penn) and her little
girl Chrissy (Pauline Roberts). Is Jerry using them to trap the
killer or has Jerry found a family to take care of? That question
plays out even through the end as one scene leads you to believe he
is using them, and then another scene you say to yourself "He
can’t be that much of an asshole to use these people."
The more I thought about this movie after I left the more I liked
it, especially the ending, foreshadowed in the opening scene, with
Jerry drunk and mumbling to himself at his gas station. Nicholson is
great in his role, slipping in and out of insanity while still on
his crusade. He looks tired and weathered most of the time, but when
he is helping Lori and Chrissy you almost get this sense that by
protecting them he has found a new purpose in life. Yet you still
wonder if he is truly protecting them or using them, and Nicholson
does a fantastic job at keeping you guessing.
And like I said, this is not a feel good movie. You might go away
not liking the ending, but I think had they gone for the easy,
feel-good ending, well, I think it would have cheapened the movie
and for that I’m sticking with my 5 stars out of 5 rating. If you
are sick and tired of writers and directors giving you the
unrealistic, happy ending, you will love "The Pledge," but
if you want that warm and fuzzy feeling, sorry, this movie won’t
give it to you. That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the
Right!! L8R!!! |
