The Pledge Reviews

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4

Its grip is on the mind but not the heart--a problem for a film that clearly aims for some emotional impact.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Nicholson rules over The Pledge with a shaky hand, and that's the source of his power here.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

After two honorable failures, Sean Penn makes quantum leap forward with an intriguing murder mystery that's also effective as a psychological character study. Nicholosn's riveting turn compensates for deliberate pacing and downbeat tone.

Full Review | Original Score: B

Penn shows restraint and patience, letting the actors discover moments, rhythms, and quirks that make their characters believable.

Full Review | Original Score: A-

É uma pena que nem todos tenham paciência para tentar compreender melhor Jerry Black. Tenho certeza de que, no futuro, este será lembrado como um dos personagens mais marcantes da bela carreira de Jack Nicholson.

| Original Score: 5/5

Penn has moulded a patient but deeply unsettling character study, leaving the viewer with more questions than answers.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Emotionally powerful film of rare and grave subtlety.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

The problem is Nicholson. He sleepwalks through the part in a cloud of ubiquitous cigarette smoke, stiff, uncomfortable, and looking like he wishes he'd never signed that contract.

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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.

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Carnadas humanas, una historia obsesiva, y un tono lírico tremendo... grata combinación que transforma una historia policíaca en algo humano, vivo y enteramente emocional.

Penn's task is well-served not only by a superb cast but the efforts of first-rate collaborators.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Steeped in an almost unbearable sadness, dense with moral ambiguity it stubbornly withholds comfort at every startling turn.

Ultimately, the payoffs just aren't there, either psychologically or dramatically.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Never less than respectable.

Full Review | Original Score: short

The film's stately pace emphasizes Jerry's slow transformation, and there are a number of wonderful scenes, both visually and structurally.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Jack the character actor is back, and it's been well worth the wait.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

While some developments are generally predictable, the movie ends up taking us on a thematic journey that is unexpected and shattering.

| Original Score: 3.5/4

A surreal journey through a contorted, mundane American heartland. Del Toro shatters as a Native American victim of provincial racial profiling.

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