berliner

I don't think it is fair that this movie gets 3.3 points. I think it should be given dead 1.0! While Plan 9 From Outer Space was so bad that it became a classic, this one is even worse but will never be a classic. The special effects are very poor, the acting unimaginative, and the story doesn't make sense.

I was quite sceptic upon seeing the ads for The Pledge because it says there that this is an adaptation of a novel by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, which I haven't read but I've seen two other adaptations of it, both in German, and both, I think, was not exceptional, if also not bad either (the black-and-white one being the better of the two). I just thought this novel has been made into a movie one time too many, and the idea of seeing a whodunnit film whose story I've known more or less doesn't really appeal to me. So when they were showing it in movie theatres I passed.

Several months later, just out of curiosity, I rented the DVD. Because I guess Jack Nicholson being a great actor that he is, this film cannot be that bad, can it? And it really is not bad. In fact, I was glued to the screen. And that, even though I knew what would happen next, I knew that the detective would use the kid as bait to catch the murderer, and I knew what "porcupines" mean and why they found chocolate inside the stomach of the killed girl. Director Sean Penn and actor Jack Nicholson have made this a very interesting film, fresh and engaging from beginning to end.

So I guess that if you want to make a remake of a film you should have an exceptional director and cast, otherwise you would end up making an inferior version of the story, like what happened to Get Carter (Stallone) or Down to Earth (Chris Rock). Nicholson has what it takes to play Detective Black. Other actors would not do better, except maybe de Niro but I'm quite tired seeing de Niro as a cop. Why don't he play someone different like a saxophone player or a boxer or something like he used to? Okay he's too old to be a boxer but what about a chess player.

Anyway I'm rambling there, but the conclusion is, you gotta catch this if you can. You're not gonna regret it.

If it's possible for a film to start weakly, get better towards the end, but still isn't good enough to be called a good film, Down to Earth is an example. The acting is poor, the script is weak, and the jokes are not funny. The most hillarious moment of the film was actually when Lance became Joe Guy after the car crash, and he tried stopping a taxi but none would halt. And then, realizing who he was, Lance/Joe shouted in joy, "I'm black again! I'm black again!" And I agree with the other commentator who wrote this film has a good ending.