Sean Penn's The Pledge is a forgotten, fairly interesting & bleak character study disguised as a serial killer thriller. About obsession, regret and fear of retirement, featuring a great late period Jack Nicholson performance. Tho it's quite dated & heavy handed in some ways but still worth watching. Also Mickey Rourke cameo was brilliant, packs more into that short heartbreaking scene than most other actors can manage in an entire film.

78/100

The Pledge is an underrated gem that explores the nature of both promises and obsession, all wrapped up in the trappings of a stylish and high-quality thriller. Sean Penn's direction is out of this world, Chris Menge's cinematography is vibrant and lush, the music by Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer is simply haunting, and It's all topped off by a powerhouse of a performance by Jack Nicholson.

Let's face it, the story could be considered derivative, but it doesn't really matter when the technical elements are so fascinating and the themes that are interwoven are so dominant. By the end of the film, you'll be so invested in the story that it'll take awhile to realize the dark and devastating path that the film has taken you on. Truly, The Pledge is as engrossing as thrillers get.

All in all, a simply excellent film, and it's highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a quality slow-burn thriller.

Sean Penn directs "The Pledge",
With Nicholson right on the edge.
A man on a mission,
So he'll keep fishing,
Getting evidence for what is alleged.

Jack Nicholson is really one of our greats.

He delivers one of his all-time best performances as Jerry Black, a retired cop who thinks his last case on the job closed too easily. The story, refreshingly, is not about the ongoing murder mystery of the little girl in the red dress. This is a film about Jerry Black, a man who simply cannot let go.

Sean Penn surehandedly directs this meandering, almost lyrical, drama that is peppered by a cast of greats, old and new. The standout is Aaron Eckhart, who provides an original spin to the cliched character of a cocky, arrogant, younger partner.

"The Pledge" also featured a finale that kept me guessing, though I should have known that what was bound to happen would be completely inevitable.

Dark and mysterious, interesting and entertaining, Jack Nicholson with a great supporting cast, an amazing ending, I can't ask for more.

It had been years since I last saw this one, and it still stands as my favorite Sean Penn-directed film and one of the more overlooked films of the entire decade of the 2000's.

Nicholson gives his strongest late career performance here as Jerry, a homicide detective whose retirement comes simultaneous with the emergence of a haunting child murderer case, and it cannot leave his conscience. No matter how much he tries to ignore the lingering images and effect that this particular case has on him, with attempted trips out of town and out of country to catch up on his beloved hobby of fishing, he cannot escape it.

Stunning direction from Penn is complemented by a variety of terrific actors in the ensemble cast to make this a taut thriller. Everything culminates in one of the more daring and unexpected endings from a film of this kind that I have ever seen.

A nearly perfect film.

I think this film is more of a character study than a straight up mystery film. Its pretty good though.

I’ve seen this before, but not for many years. It’s slower and more depressing than I remember, but it is an interesting film with great performances.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Classic dad movie. Long and slow with a few moments of just blood. So bad tho

hope i'm not like this when i retire

Not your traditional uh mystery but definitely a thriller. It feels unresolved in some ways but it comes full circle.

Great idea that sometimes works really well with some genuinely intense moments of nail biting fear. Wild and original concept. Painfully stretched out and boring between amazing scenes.

This is a slow burn, a character drama disguised as a crime thriller.
Penn is a competent director and was wise enough to just let Nicholson do his thing and to stick to the books's original ending. Because that one is a doozy.

Man, this film fucking slaps!!!! I loved this alot. The cast is insane and the cinematography is fantastic. A few images grilled into my brain for sure. Definitely a must see.

Perhaps trying too hard, but generally a solid police / serial killer thriller.
Jack Nicholson is decent as the retiring cop with the pledge to the grieving mother.
From then on there is a procession of well known faces coming in and out of the story as he quests for the truth and to overcome his former colleagues desire to bury it with an easy confession. It does drag for large chunks as it goes on, with contrived set ups and attempts at poignancy.
Quite liked the conclusion though, but could have done with a bit of an edit to tighten it up for me.

A little too slow and meditative. Feel it also flirts a little too much like it’s an adaptation of a novel rather than a film, showing us sometimes what the character is thinking in jarringly edited asides than in actions and reactions.