The Pledge (2001)
73%RT Audience Score: 59%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 6 nominations
Though its subject matter is grim and may make viewers queasy, The Pledge features an excellent, subtle performance by Jack Nicholson
If you’re looking for a movie that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat, The Pledge is definitely worth a watch. It’s got a great cast, including Jack Nicholson, and Sean Penn’s direction is spot-on. Sure, it’s a bit grim at times, but that just adds to the tension. Plus, it’s always fun to see Nicholson play something other than a silver-haired hornball. Overall, I’d say this movie is a solid choice for anyone who loves a good mystery-thriller.
Production Company(ies)
Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, Moving Pictures, Company,
Distributor
E Stars Films, Warner Bros.
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Hope, British Columbia, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong violence and language
Year of Release
2001
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
-
Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
-
Runtime:2h 4m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 19, 2001 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 19, 2001
Genre(s)
Crime/Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright, Aaron Eckhart, Patricia Clarkson, Benicio Del Toro, Dale Dickey, Mickey Rourke, Harry Dean Stanton, Vanessa Redgrave, Sam Shepard, Helen Mirren, Sean Penn, directed by Sean Penn, written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski, crime, mystery, thriller, drama, R rating, box office gross, $19.7M, Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski, reviewed by Jeff Strickler, Peter Rainer, Rick Groen, Nev Pierce, Richard Kelly, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Joanne Laurier, PJ Nabarro, Patrick Nabarro, Blake Howard, Joe Leydon, Nick Rogers
Worldwide gross: $29,419,291
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $49,579,991
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,332
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,406,760
US/Canada gross: $19,733,089
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $33,255,947
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,244
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,765,347
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $9,716,273
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 965
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $35,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $58,985,096
Production budget ranking: 693
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $31,763,474
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$41,168,578
ROI to date (est.): -45%
ROI ranking: 1,656
Robin Wright – Lori
Aaron Eckhart – Sam Krolak
Patricia Clarkson – Margaret Larsen
Benicio Del Toro – Toby Jay Wadenah
Dale Dickey – Strom
Director(s)
Sean Penn
Writer(s)
Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski
Producer(s)
Sean Penn, Elie Samaha, Michael Fitzgerald
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (125) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (97) | Rotten (28)
Mystery-thriller buffs, promise yourselves that you’ll see The Pledge. And while you’re at it, be sure to invite along Jack Nicholson fans and anyone who saw the first two movies that Sean Penn directed.
November 6, 2002 | Rating: 3.5/4
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Penn can’t be faulted for his work with the actors. Most of the featured players have only a scene or two, but they’re indelible.
September 26, 2002
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
Ultimately, the payoffs just aren’t there, either psychologically or dramatically.
March 22, 2002 | Rating: 2.5/4
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
As enthralling as it sometimes is, there isn’t any point to the relentless grimness.
October 12, 2001 | Rating: 3/5
Nev Pierce
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
An elegant rejoinder to a tired genre, a consummate work of screen adaptation, and further evidence that there is precious little Sean Penn can’t achieve on film, whether before or behind the lens.
October 4, 2001
Richard Kelly
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
February 7, 2001 | Rating: 3/4
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Penn has accommodated himself to the political and artistic status quo in an unfortunate manner.
March 5, 2021
Joanne Laurier
World Socialist Web Site
Penn intrinsically understands that there can be no epiphanies nor catharsis, as important portents and clues go unanswered as Black drifts into the mire of his obsession.
December 2, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
It’s “one last ride” for our leading character Jerry Black (Nicholson), until he abandons the case and retires. It examines a man trying to relinquish his deduction instincts in exchange for a slippery grip on a ‘normal’ life.
April 9, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Blake Howard
Graffiti With Punctuation
[Penn] sustains a mesmerizing intensity while relentlessly building toward an emotionally wrenching climax.
July 18, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
Joe Leydon
The Moving Picture Show
Sean Penn’s agonizing, angst-ridden “The Pledge” feels like a mystery less about murder and more about the inexplicable dangers of impulse and guilt. It’s also a waning opportunity to see Jack Nicholson as anything besides a silver-haired hornball.
September 17, 2010 | Rating: 4/4
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap
Its grip is on the mind but not the heart–a problem for a film that clearly aims for some emotional impact.
March 26, 2010 | Rating: 2.5/4
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com…
Plot
On the night he retires as a Reno, Nevada detective, Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) pledges to the mother of a murdered girl that he will find the killer. Jerry doesn’t believe the Police arrested the right man. He discovers that this is the third incident in the area in the recent past with victims young, blonde, pretty, and small for their ages. So he buys an old gas station in the mountains near the crimes in order to search for a tall man who drives a black station wagon, gives toy porcupines as gifts, and calls himself “the wizard”, all clues from a drawing by the dead girl. Jerry’s solitary life gives way to friendship with a woman and her small, blonde daughter. Has Jerry neglected something that may prove to be fatal?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Pledge features an excellent, subtle performance by Jack Nicholson.
Sean-Penn.jpg
