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.

A beguiling, utterly unpredictable tale of a retired cop (Jack Nicholson, giving a knockout performance that stands with his work in About Schmidt as The Definitive Late Period Jack Game) gone fishin' for a bad guy that may not even exist. The nuts-and-bolts procedural stuff is smartly, swiftly handled in the first half-hour, leaving another ninety minutes for Sean Penn (directing ably, if a little self-indulgently) to delineate real mystery - mysteries-of-life type stuff - at a leisurely pace that's occasionally frustrating but mostly moving. Ultimately kind of a confused piece, but Penn tapped into a rich vein for this one and (as they say) blood transcends water.

Stick with it. Starts very ordinarily, but gets interesting in the second act.

Wasn't a fan of the artsy-fartsy flourishes, though. Felt like Sean Penn trying too hard to convince people to take him seriously as a director instead of a style that was pertinent to telling this particular story. It wasn't, and it stood out in an annoying way.

Otherwise, solid film with a typically fantastic Jack Nicholson performance and a wonderful supporting cast.

Sean Penn is a great director. Jack Nicholson.. yes. Just yes.

The Pledge is what I would like to call a slow burn. It takes a little while to get going, but when it finally does it is hard not to keep watching. It was also very interesting to watch Jack Nicholson play a character that is very normal compared to most of his other performances and slowly watch him enter a more familiar territory towards the end.

Bottom line is that I need to see this movie again. I'm not sure I can confidently stand by my opinion: I've actually thought of this film several times over the last decade and wondered if I should re-evaluate its merit. My review at the time is here: cinema.comatosegroup.com/archives/2001-1.htm#pledge

Unlike any movie I have seen. Sean Penn hit this out of the park. This movie gives us the devolution of Jack Nicholson's character, because his peers would not trust him. There are some very dark themes throughout, with little or no highlights to bring brightness to the plot. Regardless, this movie is excellent.

Film 4 of the Mystery March Challenge

This was not an easy film for me to watch as it felt far too ponderous and in between the admittedly excellent performances, there is an excess of establishing shots and scenes that seem to go on forever.

The speech was often muted as well which really doesn't add to the pacing.

This is a shame as overall, the plot is an interesting and unusual take on what seems at first to be a very typical thriller.

Unfortunately any originality in the plot and the excellent performances from most of the cast are overshadowed by a questionable script, confusing editing, uneven pacing and an overindulgence in panoramic cinematography.

Despite all of these flaws, I'm happy to have watched this as it wasn't quite as run-of-the-mill as I was expecting. That said, I don't recommend it unless you enjoy meandering narratives and an almost zen like approach to action.

Deeply affecting, and at times engrossing, The Pledge gradually submerses us into the new life an aged detective creates for himself. The process is richly filled with details that are small and beautiful, but the old life and obsessions can never be put to rest. Jack anchors the film with an incredibly focused performance that's both brilliant and miles away from the showy bombast he's owned for much of his career.

The Pledge is what I would like to call a slow burn. It takes a little while to get going, but when it finally does it is hard not to keep watching. It was also very interesting to watch Jack Nicholson play a character that is very normal compared to most of his other performances and slowly watch him enter a more familiar territory towards the end.

One of the best movies ever. A total gut-clench from start to finish. On par with "Glengarry Glen Ross" for sheer amount of brilliant performances on display. And for a guy who's spent most of his career playing a twitchy lunatic with a crazy smile, Jack Nicholson reins in his usual excess to deliver one of his best, most complex performances. An emotionally draining - yet very compelling - experience.

I don't recall The Pledge receiving much publicity when it was released back in 2001; all of a sudden there it was on DVD being sold at for way too much at various retailers. I decided to give it a watch as a fellow YouTuber said it was quite good somewhat underrated.

Jack Nicholson plays a retired cop determined to solve the brutal murder of an 8 year old girl which occurred literally hours before his retirement.

I really enjoyed the first half of the film which sets itself up to be a good murder mystery but then it changes direction and frankly gets a little strange. The cast is very impressive and Nicholson is great always but I just wasn't happy with how the film turned out and the ending was a real downer. Not a terrible film but ultimately forgettable unfortunately.

80/100