The Pledge is one of the few films directed by the now respected (if not by the makers of Team America) actor Sean Penn, and it manages to simultaneously remind us why he should direct more, and that Jack Nicholson can act.
Let's face it, it's been a while our Jack acting, that is. Most of the time he just tilts his head, gives us a manic stare and says "Here's Johnny" in that patented (exclusive rights to Nicholson and his younger avatar, Slater) drawl.
Ostensibly, The Pledge is a detective story, with Nicholson playing a retiring police officer (Jerry Black) trying to track down the killer of a young girl. Quickly, a Native American is brought in and induced to confess, although we're never sure whether the confession related to an earlier crime. He then shoots himself. Job done, according to most of the police officers, but not Jerry. He doubts the confession, and has pledged a solemn oath to the girl's mother to find her killer.
The Pledge is not really a detective story, though, and there will be no prizes for guessing the killer's identity. The staggeringly obvious choice of Tom Noonan (of Manhunter fame) is proof enough of that. Admittedly, Hollywood is capable of just such crassness of casting where suspense is required, but not, I suspect, Penn.
But suspense is at best a distant second in this film; it is more a study of pursuit and how a goal can blind us to the present, and to our actions. Nicholson's performance is truly breathtaking, and one wonders how it could have made barely a ripple when the film came out. Gone is the trademark uber-performance. In its place we are given subtlety, a man playing his age with dignity, and an uncompromising take on obsession, loneliness and folly. If there is a problem in the film it is in his relationship with the much younger Wright Penn. It's implausible, but somehow the gravity defying Nicholson manages even to make that convincing.
The film is watchable for Nicholson's performance alone and it could easily have been a vehicle project. Credit to Penn, though, that he was able to assemble such a distinguished cast for. Robin Wright Penn (okay, maybe she wasn't so difficult), Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave and Mickey Rourke all give fine vignettes. But perhaps the most amazing performance was Benicio Del Toro as Toby Wadenah, the accused Native American. I knew he was in the film (one of my reasons for watching it) but I had to double take when I saw him. His performance was breathtaking and worth watching the entire movie, just for the 5 minutes he was in it.
Sean Penn's directorial style is similar to Clint Eastwood's. He leaves a lot of space in The Pledge and the film proceeds at a measured pace coming in at just over two hours, which allows the actors plenty of room to work. His characters are mainly working class or lower middle class. The camera-work is starkly beautiful rather than pretty, and focuses on a bleak America that gets little airtime from the soft focus brigade in California.
Penn is also, like Eastwood, brave enough to tie up the ends loosely at best. The ending may be downbeat, but it is uplifting to see that American cinema is still capable of making films like this. 8/10
Let's face it, it's been a while our Jack acting, that is. Most of the time he just tilts his head, gives us a manic stare and says "Here's Johnny" in that patented (exclusive rights to Nicholson and his younger avatar, Slater) drawl.
Ostensibly, The Pledge is a detective story, with Nicholson playing a retiring police officer (Jerry Black) trying to track down the killer of a young girl. Quickly, a Native American is brought in and induced to confess, although we're never sure whether the confession related to an earlier crime. He then shoots himself. Job done, according to most of the police officers, but not Jerry. He doubts the confession, and has pledged a solemn oath to the girl's mother to find her killer.
The Pledge is not really a detective story, though, and there will be no prizes for guessing the killer's identity. The staggeringly obvious choice of Tom Noonan (of Manhunter fame) is proof enough of that. Admittedly, Hollywood is capable of just such crassness of casting where suspense is required, but not, I suspect, Penn.
But suspense is at best a distant second in this film; it is more a study of pursuit and how a goal can blind us to the present, and to our actions. Nicholson's performance is truly breathtaking, and one wonders how it could have made barely a ripple when the film came out. Gone is the trademark uber-performance. In its place we are given subtlety, a man playing his age with dignity, and an uncompromising take on obsession, loneliness and folly. If there is a problem in the film it is in his relationship with the much younger Wright Penn. It's implausible, but somehow the gravity defying Nicholson manages even to make that convincing.
The film is watchable for Nicholson's performance alone and it could easily have been a vehicle project. Credit to Penn, though, that he was able to assemble such a distinguished cast for. Robin Wright Penn (okay, maybe she wasn't so difficult), Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave and Mickey Rourke all give fine vignettes. But perhaps the most amazing performance was Benicio Del Toro as Toby Wadenah, the accused Native American. I knew he was in the film (one of my reasons for watching it) but I had to double take when I saw him. His performance was breathtaking and worth watching the entire movie, just for the 5 minutes he was in it.
Sean Penn's directorial style is similar to Clint Eastwood's. He leaves a lot of space in The Pledge and the film proceeds at a measured pace coming in at just over two hours, which allows the actors plenty of room to work. His characters are mainly working class or lower middle class. The camera-work is starkly beautiful rather than pretty, and focuses on a bleak America that gets little airtime from the soft focus brigade in California.
Penn is also, like Eastwood, brave enough to tie up the ends loosely at best. The ending may be downbeat, but it is uplifting to see that American cinema is still capable of making films like this. 8/10