The Pledge (film)
Encyclopedia
The Pledge is a 2001 American mystery film
directed by Sean Penn
. It is based on the 1958 novella
Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman (The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel), by Swiss
author Friedrich Dürrenmatt
. Dürrenmatt wrote The Pledge to refine the theme he originally developed in the screenplay for the 1958 film Es geschah am hellichten Tag
(It Happened in Broad Daylight).
to an inebriated Police Detective Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson
), mumbling incoherently at an unspecified location. The scene then switches to events that precede the opening scene. Jerry is ice fishing, then driving to work. After work, he goes to a restaurant, where the Department has thrown him a retirement party. Police Captain Eric Pollack (Sam Shepard
) gives Jerry a gift, a trip to go fishing in Mexico. The party is interrupted by the discovery of a murdered young girl named Ginny. Jerry decides to go with another Detective, Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart
) to the scene of the crime.
Jerry delivers the bad news to the girl's parents. The mother (Patricia Clarkson
) makes Jerry swear on a cross that the girl had made that Jerry will find the killer. A suspect is found the next day. Stan goes in to interview the suspect, who is a mentally retarded Indian
man (Benicio del Toro
). The man eventually confesses, but steals one of the deputies' guns and commits suicide with it. To all of the other Detectives, the case is over. But Jerry doesn't think the killer died that night. He is still adamant about his pledge to find the killer, and doesn't go on the fishing trip the department gave to him. Jerry visits the victim's grandmother (Vanessa Redgrave
) and is directed there by an older woman. The Grandmother tells Jerry that the girl told many stories, and a later visit to one of her friends reveals that Ginny had a friend she called "The Giant". Jerry sees a picture Ginny drew of the Giant that does not resemble the Indian, and Jerry takes the picture.
Jerry goes to Stan, and asks him to reopen the case. Stan refuses, but gets Jerry more information about similar cases in the area. Jerry's further investigation leads him to three unsolved and eerily similar cases that the Indian man could not have committed. Jerry presents these cases to Captain Pollack and Stan, who are doubtful. Jerry shows them the picture of Ginny and the Giant. Jerry once again tells them he is adamant about finding the real killer, and leaves. Jerry rents a cabin and spends some time fishing. He notices a gas station near the lake and likes the location so much he asks the owner (Harry Dean Stanton
) if he is interested in selling the place. Jerry eventually buys the gas station and moves into the small house behind it. Jerry meets a local bartender named Lori (Robin Wright Penn). He slowly becomes a father figure to her young daughter Chrissy. After Lori has a fight with her ex-husband, she moves in with Jerry.
Soon, Chrissy becomes friends with a local reverend named Gary Jackson (Tom Noonan
). Jerry is uncomfortable about this and begins to think Jackson is the killer. Chrissy is shown meeting a man driving a black car with a porcupine hanger on the rear mirror. Chrissy tells this to Jerry, explaining she met a wizard who gave her little porcupine candies and who told her not to tell her parents they met - she figured it was OK to tell Jerry, since he is not her father. Jerry realizes this is the killer and, using Chrissy as bait, Jerry stages an operation, with Stan's help, to catch him in the act.
A car is shown having a porcupine hanger, but it doesn't arrive at where Chrissy is. The woman who directed Jerry to Ginny's grandmother is shown searching for a certain "Oliver", and it is suggested this Oliver is the killer. After hours of waiting, Stan and the other Police leave. They tell Lori what happened, and, after racing to the place, Lori screams at Jerry about letting her daughter be in danger. The car that was shown approaching is seen destroyed in a car accident and while there is deliberate equivocation regarding the dead occupant it can be surmised it was the killer. Jerry is then seen as he is now, mumbling and talking to himself in front of the now defunct gas station, clearly distraught and now unbalanced by the turn of events, unaware of the implied fate of the killer.
interior. While the opening scenes were filmed in Reno, Nevada
, the rest of the film was shot in Keremeos, Princeton
, Hedley
, Merritt
and Lytton
, all in British Columbia.
. Roger Ebert
gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing: "The last third of the movie is where most police stories go on autopilot, with obligatory chases, stalkings and confrontations. That's when The Pledge grows most compelling. Penn and Nicholson take risks with the material and elevate the movie to another, unanticipated, haunting level." James Berardinelli
gave The Pledge three stars, calling it "clever in the way that it gradually reveals things, but never gives us too much information at one time." The film did not fare particularly well at the box office. Its domestic receipts grossed approximately $19 million USD, with foreign receipts adding another $9 million.
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
directed by Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
. It is based on the 1958 novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman (The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel), by Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
author Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Friedrich Dürrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire...
. Dürrenmatt wrote The Pledge to refine the theme he originally developed in the screenplay for the 1958 film Es geschah am hellichten Tag
Es geschah am hellichten Tag
Es geschah am hellichten Tag is the title of a 1958 Swiss suspense film directed by Ladislao Vajda. In 1997, it was remade under the same title as a German TV film, directed by Nico Hoffmann. There was also a Dutch remake of the film, by Rudolf Van Den Berg, under the title The Cold Light of Day...
(It Happened in Broad Daylight).
Plot
The film begins with a flashbackFlashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
to an inebriated Police Detective Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
), mumbling incoherently at an unspecified location. The scene then switches to events that precede the opening scene. Jerry is ice fishing, then driving to work. After work, he goes to a restaurant, where the Department has thrown him a retirement party. Police Captain Eric Pollack (Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
) gives Jerry a gift, a trip to go fishing in Mexico. The party is interrupted by the discovery of a murdered young girl named Ginny. Jerry decides to go with another Detective, Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart
Aaron Eckhart
Aaron Edward Eckhart is an American film and stage actor. Born in California, he moved to England at the age of 13, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Sydney, Australia, for his high school senior year...
) to the scene of the crime.
Jerry delivers the bad news to the girl's parents. The mother (Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
) makes Jerry swear on a cross that the girl had made that Jerry will find the killer. A suspect is found the next day. Stan goes in to interview the suspect, who is a mentally retarded Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
man (Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
). The man eventually confesses, but steals one of the deputies' guns and commits suicide with it. To all of the other Detectives, the case is over. But Jerry doesn't think the killer died that night. He is still adamant about his pledge to find the killer, and doesn't go on the fishing trip the department gave to him. Jerry visits the victim's grandmother (Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
) and is directed there by an older woman. The Grandmother tells Jerry that the girl told many stories, and a later visit to one of her friends reveals that Ginny had a friend she called "The Giant". Jerry sees a picture Ginny drew of the Giant that does not resemble the Indian, and Jerry takes the picture.
Jerry goes to Stan, and asks him to reopen the case. Stan refuses, but gets Jerry more information about similar cases in the area. Jerry's further investigation leads him to three unsolved and eerily similar cases that the Indian man could not have committed. Jerry presents these cases to Captain Pollack and Stan, who are doubtful. Jerry shows them the picture of Ginny and the Giant. Jerry once again tells them he is adamant about finding the real killer, and leaves. Jerry rents a cabin and spends some time fishing. He notices a gas station near the lake and likes the location so much he asks the owner (Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
) if he is interested in selling the place. Jerry eventually buys the gas station and moves into the small house behind it. Jerry meets a local bartender named Lori (Robin Wright Penn). He slowly becomes a father figure to her young daughter Chrissy. After Lori has a fight with her ex-husband, she moves in with Jerry.
Soon, Chrissy becomes friends with a local reverend named Gary Jackson (Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
). Jerry is uncomfortable about this and begins to think Jackson is the killer. Chrissy is shown meeting a man driving a black car with a porcupine hanger on the rear mirror. Chrissy tells this to Jerry, explaining she met a wizard who gave her little porcupine candies and who told her not to tell her parents they met - she figured it was OK to tell Jerry, since he is not her father. Jerry realizes this is the killer and, using Chrissy as bait, Jerry stages an operation, with Stan's help, to catch him in the act.
A car is shown having a porcupine hanger, but it doesn't arrive at where Chrissy is. The woman who directed Jerry to Ginny's grandmother is shown searching for a certain "Oliver", and it is suggested this Oliver is the killer. After hours of waiting, Stan and the other Police leave. They tell Lori what happened, and, after racing to the place, Lori screams at Jerry about letting her daughter be in danger. The car that was shown approaching is seen destroyed in a car accident and while there is deliberate equivocation regarding the dead occupant it can be surmised it was the killer. Jerry is then seen as he is now, mumbling and talking to himself in front of the now defunct gas station, clearly distraught and now unbalanced by the turn of events, unaware of the implied fate of the killer.
Cast
- Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
as Jerry Black - Patricia ClarksonPatricia ClarksonPatricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
as Margaret Larsen - Benicio del ToroBenicio del ToroBenicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
as Toby Jay Wadenah - Aaron EckhartAaron EckhartAaron Edward Eckhart is an American film and stage actor. Born in California, he moved to England at the age of 13, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Sydney, Australia, for his high school senior year...
as Stan Krolak - Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
as Doctor - Tom NoonanTom NoonanTom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
as Gary Jackson - Robin Wright Penn as Lori
- Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
as Annalise Hansen - Mickey RourkeMickey RourkePhilip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
as Jim Olstad - Sam ShepardSam ShepardSam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
as Eric Pollack - Harry Dean StantonHarry Dean StantonHarry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
as Floyd Cage - Dale DickeyDale DickeyDale Dickey is an American actress best known for her recurring role as Patty on My Name is Earl and for her supporting roles in films such as Domino and Winter's Bone....
as Strom - Costas MandylorCostas MandylorCostas Mandylor is a Greek Australian actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Kenny in Picket Fences, and for portraying Mark Hoffman in the Saw films.-Early life:...
as Monash Deputy - Michael O'KeefeMichael O'KeefeMichael Raymond O'Keefe is an American film and television actor.- Early life :O'Keefe was born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr. in Mount Vernon, New York, the oldest of seven children in a devoutly Roman Catholic Irish American family. His father was a law professor at Fordham University, as well as...
as Duane Larsen - Lois SmithLois SmithLois Smith is an American actress whose career in theater, film, and television has spanned five decades.Smith was born Lois Arlene Humbert in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Carrie Davis and William Oren Humbert, who was a telephone company employee...
as Helen Jackson - Brittany TipladyBrittany TipladyBrittany Alexandra Tiplady is a Canadian child actress best known for her role as Jordan Black in the television series Millennium . She won a 1998 Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Actress"...
as Becky Fiske - Eileen RyanEileen RyanEileen Ryan is an American actress who has appeared in a number of movies and TV series. She is the widow of actor and director, Leo Penn, and mother of singer, Michael Penn, and actors, Sean and, Chris Penn, who died in January 2006....
as Jean
Production
The film was shot mainly on location in the British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
interior. While the opening scenes were filmed in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, the rest of the film was shot in Keremeos, Princeton
Princeton, British Columbia
Princeton is a small town in the Similkameen region of southern British Columbia, Canada. It lies just east of the Cascade Mountains, which continue south into Washington, Oregon and California. The Tulameen and Similkameen Rivers converge here...
, Hedley
Hedley, British Columbia
Hedley is an unincorporated town in southern British Columbia, Canada, named after Robert R. Hedley, the manager of the Hall Smelter in Nelson. Hedley is located at the foot of Nickel Plate Mountain in the Similkameen. The town had a population of approximately 400 as of 2005. In the early...
, Merritt
Merritt, British Columbia
Merritt is a city in the Nicola Valley of the south-central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Situated at the confluence of the Nicola and Coldwater rivers, it is the first major community encountered after travelling along Phase One of the Coquihalla Highway and acts as the gateway to all...
and Lytton
Lytton, British Columbia
Lytton in British Columbia, Canada, sits at the confluence of the Thompson River and Fraser River on the east side of the Fraser. The location has been inhabited by the Nlaka'pamux people for over 10,000 years, and is one of the earliest locations settled by non-natives in the Southern Interior of...
, all in British Columbia.
Response
Critical response to The Pledge was generally favorable; it holds a 79% approval rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing: "The last third of the movie is where most police stories go on autopilot, with obligatory chases, stalkings and confrontations. That's when The Pledge grows most compelling. Penn and Nicholson take risks with the material and elevate the movie to another, unanticipated, haunting level." James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
gave The Pledge three stars, calling it "clever in the way that it gradually reveals things, but never gives us too much information at one time." The film did not fare particularly well at the box office. Its domestic receipts grossed approximately $19 million USD, with foreign receipts adding another $9 million.
Accolades
- Sean PennSean PennSean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
- Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival2001 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2001 Cannes Film Festival started on May 14 and ran until May 25. The Palme d'Or went to the Italian film The Son's Room by Nanni Moretti.-Jury:* Liv Ullmann, President * Mimmo Calopresti * Charlotte Gainsbourg...
- NOMINATED - 2002 for the Danish Bodil - NOMINATED
- Benicio Del ToroBenicio del ToroBenicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
- 2002 ALMA Award - NOMINATED - Brittany TipladyBrittany TipladyBrittany Alexandra Tiplady is a Canadian child actress best known for her role as Jordan Black in the television series Millennium . She won a 1998 Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Actress"...
- 2002 Young Artist Award - NOMINATED - Hans ZimmerHans ZimmerHans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
- 2001 World Soundtrack Award - NOMINATED