This one line summary is the tagline for "In the Cold Light of Day" (1994 with Richard Grant and Lynsey Baxter in the Jack Nicholson / Robin Wright parts), book by the same author and it's the same movie with different actors. It is remarkable that there is not one comment comparing "The Pledge" with its predecessor. `In the Cold Light of Day' is not a perfect movie but the plot and characters hold together better than in `The Pledge'. Things make more sense - the mother coming to live with (basically) a total stranger (and she IS aware of the child killings), reasons for the child to disregard the warnings about talking with strangers, a motive for why the killer kills, and there IS a killer in the first movie. Perdita Weeks as the child is remarkable in the first movie.
The previous movie was filmed in Eastern Europe with scenery astonishingly like the scenery in `The Pledge'. The beginning of both movies is very similar and it is a deju vu experience. Once into the movie, `The Pledge' takes its own mountain road and I do not need to go into discrepancies in `The Pledge' that should not have happened, since other posters have already done so. There are many weaknesses yet there are great strengths in `The Pledge'. Sean Penn has constructed some wonderful performances from his actors. Most notably, Vanessa Redgrave and Mickey Rourke. Sean Penn has achieved something no other director has ever accomplished, he finally got an exceptional performance out of Mickey 'insipid smile' Rourke. I may even have changed my opinion about Mr. Rourke's acting ability after seeing this movie. With the exception of Mickey Rourke's presentation, even the exceptional performances do not hold the film together when inserted into the whole of it. Although Ms. Redgrave's performance was superb, I also got the opposite feeling from her characterization - that she just didn't give a damn about anything. Robin Wright's performance also left that dichotomous sensation - she may have liked Jack Nicholson's character but maybe not really. There is no chemistry between them. I almost got the feeling that Sean Penn was offering up his wife to his pal Jack Nicholson at one point - just for friendship's sake. In previous films, whenever Ms. Wright is on-screen there is a light, a radiance - she glows on the screen. Somehow, her light was smothered in this movie. To her credit, she must have amazing self-confidence to play a snaggle-toothed, greasy-haired, dim-witted character, especially with all those close-ups; however, her character just didn't come off.
And to Sean Penn's great credit, in his rendering of `The Pledge' he did not do what had already been done with Friedrich Durrenmatt's book and in `In the Cold Light of Day' - he took the song and made it his own.
Sean Penn is not underrated or undervalued by those with wits or even half-wits. He is a superbly accomplished actor and director. Of course he should have won the Oscar for `Dead Man Walking'. And some day he'll get what he should have been his. But I don't feel it should be for this movie.
The previous movie was filmed in Eastern Europe with scenery astonishingly like the scenery in `The Pledge'. The beginning of both movies is very similar and it is a deju vu experience. Once into the movie, `The Pledge' takes its own mountain road and I do not need to go into discrepancies in `The Pledge' that should not have happened, since other posters have already done so. There are many weaknesses yet there are great strengths in `The Pledge'. Sean Penn has constructed some wonderful performances from his actors. Most notably, Vanessa Redgrave and Mickey Rourke. Sean Penn has achieved something no other director has ever accomplished, he finally got an exceptional performance out of Mickey 'insipid smile' Rourke. I may even have changed my opinion about Mr. Rourke's acting ability after seeing this movie. With the exception of Mickey Rourke's presentation, even the exceptional performances do not hold the film together when inserted into the whole of it. Although Ms. Redgrave's performance was superb, I also got the opposite feeling from her characterization - that she just didn't give a damn about anything. Robin Wright's performance also left that dichotomous sensation - she may have liked Jack Nicholson's character but maybe not really. There is no chemistry between them. I almost got the feeling that Sean Penn was offering up his wife to his pal Jack Nicholson at one point - just for friendship's sake. In previous films, whenever Ms. Wright is on-screen there is a light, a radiance - she glows on the screen. Somehow, her light was smothered in this movie. To her credit, she must have amazing self-confidence to play a snaggle-toothed, greasy-haired, dim-witted character, especially with all those close-ups; however, her character just didn't come off.
And to Sean Penn's great credit, in his rendering of `The Pledge' he did not do what had already been done with Friedrich Durrenmatt's book and in `In the Cold Light of Day' - he took the song and made it his own.
Sean Penn is not underrated or undervalued by those with wits or even half-wits. He is a superbly accomplished actor and director. Of course he should have won the Oscar for `Dead Man Walking'. And some day he'll get what he should have been his. But I don't feel it should be for this movie.
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