CrimeDramaMysteryThriller

The Pledge

- Detective Jerry Black has made a promise he can't break, to catch a killer he can't find.

A police chief about to retire pledges to help a woman find her daughter's killer.

Release Date : 2001-01-19

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Morgan Creek EntertainmentFranchise PicturesClyde Is Hungry FilmsPledge ProductionsEpsilon Motion PicturesWarner Bros. Pictures

Production Country : SwitzerlandUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Jerry Black

Original Name : Jack Nicholson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor

Original Name : Helen Mirren

Gender : Female

Character Name : Stan Krolak

Original Name : Aaron Eckhart

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lori

Original Name : Robin Wright

Gender : Female

Character Name : Eric Pollack

Original Name : Sam Shepard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Toby Jay Wadenah

Original Name : Benicio del Toro

Gender : Male

Character Name : Margaret Larsen

Original Name : Patricia Clarkson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jim Olstad

Original Name : Mickey Rourke

Gender : Male

Character Name : Annalise Hansen

Original Name : Vanessa Redgrave

Gender : Female

Character Name : Helen Jackson

Original Name : Lois Smith

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jean

Original Name : Eileen Ryan

Gender : Female

Character Name : Monash Deputy

Original Name : Costas Mandylor

Gender : Male

Character Name : Floyd Cage

Original Name : Harry Dean Stanton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gary Jackson

Original Name : Tom Noonan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rudy

Original Name : Beau Daniels

Gender : Male

Character Name : Strom

Original Name : Dale Dickey

Gender : Female

Character Name : Resort Owner

Original Name : Wendy Donaldson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Sheriff

Original Name : Adrien Dorval

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bus Driver

Original Name : Shawn Henter

Gender : Male

Character Name : Duane Larsen

Original Name : Michael O'Keefe

Gender : Male

Character Name : Store Clerk

Original Name : Kathy Jensen

Gender : Female

Character Name : Ginny Larsen

Original Name : Taryn Knowles

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hank

Original Name : Nels Lennarson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Criminologist #1

Original Name : Gordon May

Gender : Male

Character Name : Real Estate Agent

Original Name : J.J. McColl

Gender : Male

Character Name : Deputy #3

Original Name : Gardiner Millar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Deputy #1

Original Name : Adam Nelson

Gender : Male

Character Name : TV Anchorman

Original Name : Tony Parsons

Gender : Male

Character Name : Prisoner

Original Name : Robert Popoff

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flea Market Sales Lady

Original Name : Nicole Robert

Gender : Female

Character Name : Chrissy

Original Name : Pauline Roberts

Gender : Male

Character Name : Grey Haired Man

Original Name : John R. Taylor

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rest Home Resident

Original Name : Theodore Thomas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Becky Fiske

Original Name : Brittany Tiplady

Gender : Female

Character Name : Crime Scene Reporter

Original Name : Mavourneen Varcoe-Ryan

Gender : Female

Character Name : Bartender at Airport

Original Name : Françoise Yip

Gender : Female

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

There can't be such devils out there. The Pledge is directed by Sean Penn and adapted to screenplay by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski from Friedrich Dürrenmatt's novel, "The Promise". It stars Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn, Aaron Eckhart, Sam Shepard, Patricia Clarkson, Helen Mirren, Tom Noonan, Benicio Del Toro, Mickey Rourke, Dale Dickey, Vanessa Redgrave and Harry Dean Stanton. Music is by Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer, and cinematography by Chris Menges. Police chief Jerry Black (Nicholson) is literally on his last day before retitement. But during his leaving party news filters through that a young girl has been brutally murdered. Talking his chiefs into letting him tag along to the crime scene, Black ends up breaking the dredful news to the girl's parents. There he pledges to the mother that he will find her daughter's killer. Dürrenmatt's source material has been mined a few times for other filmic ventures, where the best of the other bunch is "Es geschah am hellichten Tag" ("It Happened in Broad Daylight"). It is here, though, in Sean Penn's hands, that we get the version that got two thumbs up from the author, mostly because of the ending staying true to his work. It should be noted from the off that this is not police procedural detective piece. This is a slow burn, moody and edgy picture, the kind that Penn excells at as an actor. Thankfully, in spite of it losing money at the box office, it shows Penn the perfect director for such material. It obviously isn't a film for everyone, more so if not prepared for it being a picture about one man's tumbling emotional descent. As Jerry Black searches for the perpretrator of heinious crimes, he also is faced with a moral judgement call and a major affair of the heart. The trick of the screnplay here is not in the red herrings and the little dangles of clues that appear to be on offer to Jerry, it's that we are never quite sure if Jerry is actually right in his belief of a child serial killer at work. Is it the product of a man so driven by the pledge he made, that he isn't thinking straight? Or worse losing his grip on sanity? The answer will only will out with the clinically daring finale. Lead actors Nicholson and Wright Penn turn in some of their finest work, both responding to Sean's probing of troubled souls in search of an exit. There's an array of quality support actors in small parts, which is a testament to the pull that working with Penn did appeal. The musical score is nervy and sits smartly with the ethereal tones that Menges brings via his photographic lenses. The Pledge is a haunting and disturbing character study that refuses to cop out. It achieves its aims and wasn't going to pander to any crowd pleasing bums on seats tactics. A dark thriller for grown ups who have the patience for such a telling, and perhaps more crucially are prepared to have their emotions tested with the finale. 9/10