2001 / 124m - USA
Crime, Mystery
1.5*/5.0*
The Pledge poster

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April 22, 2023

1.5*/5.0*

A pretty poor crime/mystery flick, one that is pretty typical for the 90s. There's a cast full of familiar faces (no doubt Penn called in a few favors for this film), but none of the actors do a particularly good job, the direction is bland and uninspired and the plot is as generic as can be.

Jerry, an (almost) retired police officer promises the mother of a murdered child to find the killer. The local police seem to have found a likely suspect, but Jerry isn't convinced he's the culprit. Even though the case is closed, he continues his search and won't stop before he has found the real killer.

Nicholson, Eckhart, Del Toro ... famous names, but none of them does a decent job. The "Policeman's last case" plot is very generic, Sean Penn goes through the motions but adds nothing of value as a director, and two hours is way too long for a simplistic thriller like this one. Not great.