THE PLEDGE

Directed by Sean Penn

Starring Jack Nicholson

Playing at AMC Mountain Farms 4

It is common sense that people don’t like to be upset or made to think unnecessarily, especially when going to the movies. Movies have always been a way to escape from daily life, and films that probe (and sometimes rattle) the human mind do not often prosper as well as more upbeat and lighthearted ones. Last year’s highest grossing film, Erin Brockovich, won over audiences and critics alike because of its schmaltzy and optimistic storytelling, while people were less likely to praise darker, more brooding films such as 1998’s A Simple Plan and Arlington Road.

It has always been my belief that if a movie can get inside your head and teach you something about the world in which we all live, then it deserves to be praised. With my most sincere and heartfelt acknowledgment, The Pledge is such a film, the first outstanding movie of 2001.

The Pledge is a thriller that will perhaps perturb and agitate some moviegoers, but at the same time proves to be a finely crafted motion picture, full of passionate performances, clear-cut direction, and a fast-paced storyline that is so involving you’ll feel like you’re part of it.

Jack Nicholson came out of his semi-retirement to play Detective Jerry Black, a lonely law enforcer who is just minutes away from retirement when he becomes involved with the investigation of the brutal murder of a local nine year-old girl. The search for the killer produces a slow-witted native, who confesses to the crime and only minutes later kills himself. Black, however, knows the case is not that open and shut, so he continues to seek the dead girl’s assailant, making a pledge to her mother that he will not rest until the criminal is found.

Nicholson, who has always been known for playing a madman of one sort or another, is more calm and collected here, but has just as powerful an effect as any of his earlier performances. We slowly see him become obsessed with the case, dedicating his entire life and finances to it. Years pass and his personal pursuit for the killer (now known as The Wizard) remains. He is the only one who is still bothered by the grisly crime – even the victim’s parents are hauntingly unaffected by the absence of their only child and have gone back to their daily life. When Black becomes involved romantically with a young, single mother and her seven year-old daughter, it seems that he may finally be able to concentrate his energy on something more fruitful and fulfilling. Slowly but surely, though, the line between dedication to his new family and that to his work become blurred, resulting in a jarring final act which blindsides you with its stunning simplicity. Like the Tom Hanks flick Cast Away, many people may look at the ending as vague, or a letdown, but as I see it, sometimes the best way to end a film is to leave it in the hands of the audience.

The best part of the film is, obviously, Jack, re-teaming with director and friend, Sean Penn, after their last collaboration, the dreary The Crossing Guard. The rest of the cast, too, is marvelous, especially the cameo by man-of-the-moment Benicio del Toro, simultaneously turning heads in the crowd-pleasers Snatch and Traffic. Robin Wright Penn, director Sean’s ex-wife, is also present, but she doesn’t add or subtract to the dynamic flavor of the film.

The Pledge will not win any awards due to its disturbing subject matter and timing in the Academy’s calendar, nor will it pass the $50 million mark. Both of these facts are just as upsetting as the movie’s content. For if last year is any indication, movies this well rounded don’t pop up a lot.

As a journalist and an arts critic, I have made a pledge to you, the reader, to tell the unfiltered and God’s-honest truth about the subjects I review. The Pledge is a movie that makes arts critics and movie lovers like me proud, and it would be a small crime to let gems like this pass you by.