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« Hitch 'em up at the Angelika | Main | Box office Buzz »

The 'Pledge' of Allegiance

1:57 PM Wed, Sep 26, 2007 |  | 
Chris Vognar   E-mail   News tips
pledge.jpg

Stirring up obsession: Jack Nicholson sticks by his Pledge (Warner Brothers)

Last night I finally caught up with a movie that I've wanted to look at for years: Sean Penn's The Pledge , a wicked little story about the intersection of obsession and obligation. Jack Nicholson plays a Reno cop who promises a slain girl's grief-stricken parents he'll find her killer. Bad timing: he makes the promise on the night of his retirement party. This is one of Nicholson's most overlooked performances; everything is played just below the surface. It also features some of the same themes of stubborn individualism and isolation featured in Penn's Into the Wild; opening this Friday, it's the reason I watched The Pledge. Look for my interview with Penn and his Wild star Emile Hirsch in Sunday's Guide Live section. (The novel of The Pledge, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, is also supposed to be excellent).

Comments

Posted by Matt O. @ 3:01 PM Wed, Sep 26, 2007


Couldn't agree with you more. Everything that Penn started in The Indian Runner he finished with The Pledge. One of the few Nicholson roles where you actually forget that it is Jack by the third act.



Posted by Chris Vognar @ 3:12 PM Wed, Sep 26, 2007


It also has all these bit parts filled by heavy hitters (or soon to be heavy hitters) who you know wanted to work with Penn and Nicholson - Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren, Aaron Eckhart, Benicio Del Toro and Patricia Clarkson, to name a few.



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