Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I heard from both John Robie and Gregor Samsa about this film after they attended the same screening tonight, and they were far less satisfied with the picture as it plays now. Personally, I think THE INDIAN RUNNER was brilliant, and even though I'm not nuts about THE CROSSING GUARD, I'm always willing to see whatever Penn is doing. If this does work, it would be the first non-turd to fall from the asshole of Ellie Samaha and Franchise Pictures, a company that is actually gearing up for a BATTLEFIELD EARTH 2. Let's see what Blueman, one of our chatters, has to say.
A man (Jack Nicholson) mutters incomprehensibly to himself. We see he is in a dusty, desertlike environment. Flashback to a winter scene, in which a much more rational, civil Nicholson ice-fishes. So starts The Pledge, a cinematic journey of sorts to discover how this character ends up alone in the dust, whispering madly to himself.
I attended the mostly full screening of this Warner Bros/Morgan Creek/Franchise Pictures/Clyde is Hungry Productions (whew!) film tonight at the Cineplex Odeon on 3rd Street in Santa Monica, at which we were advised that this was indeed the first screening, and, emphatically, the FINAL CUT of the film. Except for some minor technical problems, it was explained, this was the movie we'd see released to theaters. We were not asked to sign any confidentiality forms(this was not an NRG screening), and director Sean Penn was not in attendance as far as I could ascertain, so I assumed that this screening was intended perhaps to divine a marketing approach to the film.
The crowd was a mixed bag, they seemed to like the film quite a bit, yet they also seemed to me to laugh a bit too often and in odd, occasionally inappropriate places. Perhaps the casting of Jack Nicholson in the lead role made this moody, decidedly non-commercial film paltable to this rather general audience. Frankly, that they enjoyed it as much as they did surprised me.
The Pledge is the story of Jerry Black (Nicholson), a Reno, NV cop who is literally six hours away from retirement and a quiet life with plenty of time with his passion, fishing, when a call about a murder comes in. He goes along to the crime scene with the young turk detective played by Aaron Eckhart, doing a rather superficial if otherwise solid riff on his "jerk" persona.
A young girl has been raped and murdered in the sticks, and the big city cops are called in to take over from the incompetent local police force. So inexperienced are they with crimes of this nature that they have yet to inform the girl's parents. Jerry takes on the grim task, and in a silent, beautifully shot scene in a turkey coop, he breaks the news to them. Later, in their home, he deals with their high emotions at this trying time. The girl's mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, makes Jerry promise to her, promise on his eternal soul, that the girl's killer will be brought to justice. This is the "pledge" of the title, and it proves more difficult to fulfill than Jerry could possibly imagine.
However, the police apprehend a man who an eyewitness saw at the scene. This man, a rather mentally short-shrifted native american played by Benicio Del Toro, is a solid suspect. He has a prior record of verious violent and sexual crimes, and he WAS at the scene of the crime. However, something about the situation doesn't sit well with Jerry Black. To him, it doesn't quite fit. However, it's not his case, and Eckhart's detective quickly and easily soothes a halting confession from the man. In the hall, however, Del Toro takes his own life, effectively sealing the case in the eyes of the police. Jerry, still unsatisfied, his pledge weighing on him, forgoes his retirement to mexico and begins to investigate on his own.
That makes up the first few minutes of the film. Plotwise, nothing really develops for quite some time, as Jerry eases himself into the killer's hunting grounds, slowly searching and waiting for a break. His method of detection eerily parallels his hobby. He baits the hook, lets it dangle patiently, waiting for a bite.
This is as far as I'll go into the plot for the moment, as I had some issues with the film's ending.
Penn has delivered a true "actor's film." Every character, however incidental, manages to have their own peculiar movements and quirks, almost to distraction. No one merely speaks their lines, they're lifting weights, twirling their hair between their fingers, speaking in strange voices, engulfed in misery, basically just chewing scenery. That is, everyone except Jack. Nicholson gives the most subtle and well-paced performance of his career in this film. He develops his character of Jerry Black through the entire film, not resorting to his The Shining-brand of self-parody as he has been known to do occasionally. Robin Wright Penn also gives an excellent performance, though she is saddled with a character that would be easy to caricature, she transforms the part of a white-trash waitress into a real person.
Penn's direction is interesting. At times it seemed he would overload the film with visual and editorial fireworks, but he always managed to pull back before it became too much. A problem with the film, or more accurately with the audience is that some scenes came off with what I would describe as the wrong reaction. For example, the scene where Jack makes his pledge, a not un-important scene, the staging of Patricia Clarkson's lines and Nicholson's reaction shots caused the audience to laugh, which was clearly the opposite reaction of what Penn seemed to be going for. This happened several times during the film, but I ascribe it to more of an immature audience than any real fault with the film.
The script and some of the casting, however, occasionally struck me as awkward and somewhat frustrating. The film's cast is full of interesting and well known actors and actresses, but at one point it became too much. The film became a string of "big scenes" with little, in my opinion, narrative value. We are given a long, drawn out scene with Mickey Rourke, that while very well-acted and his best work since Angel Heart, is superfluous. Vanessa Redgrave is granted a big emoting scene as well, then disappears. I almost gave up on the film right there, because I didn't really care to see a string of big-name oscar-nomination cameos. Helen Mirren shows up, does a rather nice understated performance as a psychologist, gives some tips to Jerry, then disappears. Harry Dean Stanton is wasted, he doesn't even get to cry in his ten second role as a gas station owner. Benicio Del Toro, I'm shocked to say, turned in his first bad performance this year. His mentally-addled would-be killer speaks in an extremely odd, familiar voice that took me a second to place:the cookie monster from Sesame Street. That's perhaps a bit harsh, but it's exactly what occurred to me.
Overall, this is a terrific film. The acting, the visuals, the story are all top notch with qualifications. I'd put this film behind Dancer in the Dark in my best of List this year to date, and I look forward to Sean Penn's further directorial efforts.
theblueman
