Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen - Maltin, Leonard [78]
I won’t reveal more details of the story or the nature of the young protagonist. Suffice it to say that it’s a highly complex, multilayered character, and Fanning manages to convey all of her nuances. A key scene with her mother is emotionally draining, and brutally honest; I don’t know when I’ve seen another moment quite like it on-screen. Christophe Beck’s delicate score supports and highlights the many subtle changes of mood that punctuate the story.
A week after its debut at Sundance, Daniel Barnz brought his film to my class at USC. I was worried that it might turn off my students, who aren’t used to dealing with such raw emotions, but they embraced the picture as I did, even with its shortcomings. (Some of the storytelling is choppy, and a dorky school principal, played for comedy by the talented Campbell Scott, seems oddly out of place.) I, for one, would rather see an imperfect movie with great moments and memorable performances than a film that’s consistent, or slick, but mediocre.
Barnz also confided how he, an utter novice, got Felicity Huffman to appear in his film: he learned that she lived in his neighborhood, knocked on her door, and asked if she’d be willing to read the script. She did, and told him how much she loved it, but said she’d understand that in the process of financing he might want somebody more bankable. Two weeks later she was cast in Desperate Housewives and Transamerica, for which she got an Oscar nomination. Suddenly, having her attached to Phoebe had real significance.
107. THE PLEDGE
(2001)
Directed by Sean Penn
Screenplay by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski
Based on the novel by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Actors:
JACK NICHOLSON
ROBIN WRIGHT PENN
BENICIO DEL TORO
VANESSA REDGRAVE
TOM NOONAN
PATRICIA CLARKSON
MICHAEL O’KEEFE
AARON ECKHART
COSTAS MANDYLOR
HELEN MIRREN
MICKEY ROURKE
SAM SHEPARD
LOIS SMITH
HARRY DEAN STANTON
PAULINE ROBERTS
EILEEN RYAN
Any filmmaker who fails to tie up the loose ends of his story in a neat little package risks alienating his audience. Sean Penn takes that chance in The Pledge and still provides powerful, provocative entertainment, thanks to a fascinating narrative and an exceptional cast. Still, I suppose it’s understandable why the movie never caught on in spite of its marquee names.
Penn is drawn to dark and difficult material, as he indicated with his first directorial efforts, The Indian Runner and The Crossing Guard, as well as his most celebrated work, Into the Wild. The Pledge remains a particular favorite of mine because it tells such a compelling story and provides Jack Nicholson with one of his richest and most demanding parts.
The movie opens as Nevada police detective Nicholson is celebrating his retirement with friends and colleagues…but the partying is cut short when a report comes in about the rape and murder of a young girl nearby. Although his cronies remind him that he’s off the hook, Nicholson insists on checking out the brutal crime, and when the girl’s distraught parents turn to him for assurance that he will track down the rapist/killer he gives them his word.
Although officially retired he cannot pry himself away from this puzzling case—and refuses to abandon the pledge he made to those parents. The local cops are convinced that a Native American man they’ve arrested is the culprit. Nicholson believes they’re wrong, and thinks they’re settling for a convenient solution to the crime.
In time his sniffing leads him to another part of the state where he decides to settle in, purchasing a gas station and convenience store. Here he starts a new life and develops a relationship with a waitress (Robin Wright Penn) and her daughter. But the case is never far from his mind.
The Pledge takes its time (not unlike its protagonist), allows us to drink