Your Movie Library
Cast
- Jack NicholsonJerry Black
- Helen MirrenDoctor
- Aaron EckhartStan Krolak
- Robin WrightLori
- Sam ShepardEric Pollack
- Benicio del ToroToby Jay Wadenah
- Patricia ClarksonMargaret Larsen
- Mickey RourkeJim Olstad
- Vanessa RedgraveAnnalise Hansen
- Lois SmithHelen Jackson
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
Penn and Nicholson take risks with the material and elevate the movie to another, unanticipated, haunting level. - 88
New York Post
Not a film for all tastes, but it's a considerable artistic achievement. - 80
Rolling Stone
In crafting a fierce, fragmented, downbeat film about a character who makes the wrong decision as a man by being right as a cop, Penn flies in the face of what sells in Hollywood. Godspeed. - 75
Chicago Tribune
A rare thriller - and a rare American film - that centers on both dramatic and moral issues, crises of conscience. And thanks to a superb central performance by Nicholson as detective Black, it's a film that compels, thrills and ends up coming very close to tragedy. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
Penn is a true talent, but there's just enough languid pretension to The Pledge to make you wonder if he's ultimately more interested in parading his promise as a director than in fulfilling it. - 70
TV Guide Magazine
Short on action but heavy on ambiance, and the cumulative effect packs a whopper if you're willing to stop and think about it. Penn, never one to opt for action over thought, clearly expects that his audience will. - 70
Slate
Fitfully haunting and impressive: a little less loitery and opaque and it might have been a classic. - 65
TNT RoughCut
Luckily, Penn's attentive directing and Nicholson's layered acting render The Pledge's occasionally questionable story permutations secondary to enjoying this emotionally powerful film of rare and grave subtlety.
