Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5299 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-04-15
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish
• Dubbed in: French, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Pledge is the latest offering from Sean Penn, and as in Crossing Guard he chooses Jack Nicholson as his leading man. Nicholson is detective Jerry Black, a respected and well-liked veteran of the Reno police force retiring to a life of angling with more than a little apprehension. Thus he jumps into a murder case, the slaying of a little girl, a mere six hours from retirement and makes a promise to the grieving mother to catch the killer. As his partner (an effectively abrasive Aaron Eckhart) squeezes a confession out of the severely mentally handicapped suspect (a thoroughly unsettling performance by Benicio Del Toro), Jerry is convinced that they've got the wrong man. As with Sean Penn's previous work, this is an actors' piece. Nicholson plays Jerry as having a restlessness under his easy-going, smiling calm and Del Toro, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave and Mickey Rourke make striking impressions in their single-scene appearances. Penn is less concerned with the mystery than the emotional turmoil and Jerry's state of mind, interrupting moments of calm with jagged cuts and discomforting images (including some especially disturbing crime scene photos). Jerry's instincts and methods are sound and his sensitivity is real--he takes in a battered single mom (Robin Wright Penn) and her little girl, and develops a rewarding family life--but his passion for justice turns to unhealthy, destructive obsession. That's ultimately what we're left with at the conclusion of this often off-putting but ultimately fascinating film. The truth will not always set you free.--Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\German
English\German
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French German
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Trailer
Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\German\Icelandic\Norwegian\Swedish

Synopsis
Director Sean Penn's (THE INDIAN RUNNER, THE CROSSING GUARD) third film features Jack Nicholson as Jerry Black, a retired detective whose final case ultimately causes his slow descent into madness. In the midst of his retirement party, Black decides to join Detective Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart) on one last case. The molested body of an eight-year-old girl is found in the Nevada mountains. When the chief suspect turns out to be a mentally challenged Native American (Benicio Del Toro), Black is not convinced of his guilt despite his confession. Unable to forget the promise he made to the dead girl's mother that he would find her daughter's killer, Black becomes determined to catch a monster that no one else believes is out there. His resolve increases when he realizes that two similar unsolved murders occurred in the same area in recent years, and the case hits closer to home when Black befriends Lori (Robin Wright Penn), a waitress with a threatening ex-husband, and her eight-year old daughter, Chrissy (Pauline Roberts). Nicholson is compelling in this study of a man whose obsession slowly eats away at his sanity as he attempts to keep his promise by any means necessary.

Customer Reviews

Nicholson's a triumph!
When I first heard about this film I was very intrigued; for one thing I think Jack Nicholson is great- he has this ability to completely draw you in when on screen, and he seems to do it so effortlessly. It's true that this story is slow, but this is necessary.
The story begins, focusing on Nicholson's character, a detective working his last day before retirement. On that same day the body of a brutally murdered young girl is discovered,and in a nutshell Nicholson ends up making a 'pledge' to the victim's mother; he will find the killer.
What makes this film so interesting, and different, is the way one closely follows Nicholson's endless pursuit of this killer. By making this film so detailed it enables you to fully empathise with his character, as in the end the viewer sort of adopts an 'obsession' of their own to find the murderer. By the end of the film i was almost as desperate as Nicholson to find out.
The supporting cast are all excellent, including Vanessa Redgrave and the ever-screen-stealing Benicio Del Toro, who all make this film all the more watchable.
It's a murder mystery, but with a twist. There's nothing 'fancy' about it, which is propbably what makes it all the more 'real' and strangely disturbing when watching it.
If you don't have much patience when it comes to films, I would probably give this a miss as you really do need to concentrate. But if you like something a bit different, a detective/drama with a twist you should give this a try. Alternatively, if like me, you think Nicholson is so watchable anyway, then go see it now!! His performance is mesmerising, but in such a clever and subtle way. I would definitely see it again, just to try and get my head around the ending.
A very cleverly crafted film. The only negative for me was that Del Toro wasn't in it longer. Go on, give it a try.

HAUNTING AND INTELLIGENT!!!
Vaguely reminiscent in tone to Paul Schrader's movie 'Affliction', The Pledge is Sean Penn's third outing as a Director. As with his previous work it is very much a study of human beings, their strengths their weaknesses and their flaws. Beautifully photographed, it is also morally ambiguous and ultimately downbeat portrayal of a good man obsessed with fulfilling a promise and unable to let go of the past in his attempt to give his life meaning.

Opening with an unkempt Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) apparently rambling incoherently to himself, the rest of the movie is told in flashback, with Jerry returning from a fishing trip and about to start his last day as a police detective. However, when a young boy witnesses a retarded native American man (Beniccio Del Torro) fleeing in the snow and subsequently discovers the body of a young girl, who has been brutally raped and murdered, Jerry, despite his imminent retirement, promises the distraught parents that he will catch whomever is responsible. Later Jerry refuses to believe the murder is an open and shut case, carrying on his own investigation even when the officer in charge of the investigation (Aaron Eckhart) is only too keen to blame it on the now deceased Indian.

Jack Nicholson (who previously collaborated with Sean Penn, on the also excellent Crossing Guard) delivers one of his finest performances, in his subtle portrayal of a good man trying to keep a promise but at a personal cost. And whilst this is far from the type of feel good movie such as 'As Good As It Gets' that won him his last Best Actor Oscar, this is in my opinion a far superior movie and a far superior performance, in that although this haunting movie will not send you to bed with your faith in the human spirit restored, it will make you think and stay with you for much longer than any of your typical Hollywood fare. Also excellent is the supporting cast, especially including a cast against type dowdy single mother, Robin Wright Penn, as well as Aaron Eckhart, Sam Shepard, Beniccio Del Torro, Helen Mirren and Tom Noonan.

The Pledge is a disturbing film but it is beautifully filmed and for this praise must be directed toward Chris Menges (Local Hero) for his beautiful cinematography. Admittedly this is an uncommercial and slow paced movie which certainly wont be to everyone's taste and although some people will be critical of his at times somewhat ponderous style of directing, Sean Penn (dir. The Indian Runner and The Crossing Guard) subtly allows his actors to shine. Penn is as far as I'm concerned, one of America's finest character actors but he can surely now add to his resume the title of, one of America's great young film directors and I highly recommend this very intelligent movie.

Unpredictable thriller, beautifully realized
The ending of this movie, of which we see glimpses in the beginning, is an example of the sort of cosmic irony that some world-renown writers apply to human affairs. It is not the sort of thing usually seen in a movie of course, since the mass mind at which most movies are directed will find it dissatisfying, even irritating.

The world-renowned author responsible for the ending of this tale of a retired cop on the trail of a serial killer of blond little girls in red dresses is none other than Swiss novelist and playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt who wrote the novel from which the screen play was adapted.

The "pledge" in the title is that of just-retiring Reno, Nevada cop Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) who is not convinced that a confession by a mentally-disturbed Native American, played convincingly by Benicio Del Toro, is genuine. Jerry Black gives his word to the mother of the murdered little girl that he will find the killer. However, he is no longer on the force and gets only intermittent help from his colleagues who think he has gone a little daffy. Nicholson, as usual, totally becomes the character he is playing and gives an outstanding performance. He is assisted by Aaron Eckhart who plays the detective who got the "confession," and by Robin Wright Penn who plays Lori, the mother of another little girl.

The direction by Sean Penn is uncluttered, focused and visually astute. For example, note the way the little girl playing in the swings between the highway and the gas station affects our expectation of what is to come. Penn also captures well the high country atmosphere around Reno, Nevada and attendant lifestyles, and for the most part keeps his auteur ambitions secondary to the telling of the story. The script by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski is artistically true with crisp, direct dialogue and a fine dramatic structure. The film is also nicely cut so that everything is clear without any belaboring of the obvious. Some of the set scenes as Jerry Black interviews the grandmother of the slain little girl (Vanessa Redgrave in a cameo) and then a psychiatrist (..., who is just perfect in her experienced skepticism) are very well done. Most importantly though, Penn did not give in to those who would demand a commercial ending over an artistic one. And for this he paid the price, since this film was not well-received by the mass audience.

Of course it is impossible to discuss the ending without giving away too much, but I think we can safely say that in real life sometimes chance and fate (if you will) step in and change things dramatically which makes us see our limitations and realize that some of what happens to us is beyond our control. I think that is what happened to Jerry Black and Lori; yet notice, too, that it is integral to Jerry Black's character and all that he has been all his life for him to make the insensitive mistake that he does.

Incidentally the ending can be fixed in a sequel... Well, that is not likely to happen since this was NOT a box office success. Only box office successes get to be sequels--which somehow (bizarrely) reminds me of the line from the old Charlie the Tuna TV commercial: "Only good-tasting tunas get to be Starkist."

For those who are wondering who really did kill the little girls, I will give you a hint: he got his just deserts in a symbolically appropriate manner.

Bottom line: a fine artistic achievement, an excellent diversion, and a treat for those who are fed up with films that play out in a tiresome, predictable manner.