The Pledge

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sean Penn directs. Chris Menges behind the camera. Hans Zimmer scores. Jay Cassidy cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Earned back only 84% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3Directed by Sean Penn, shot by Chris Menges. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Jay Cassidy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Jack Nicholson and Helen Mirren and Aaron Eckhart carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Detective Jerry Black has made a promise he can't break, to catch a killer he can't find.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0237572 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Chris Menges

Original score

Hans Zimmer

Editing

Jay Cassidy

Production design

Bill Groom

Costume design

Jill M. Ohanneson

Runtime

124 min · 2h 4m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$35,000,000

Box office

$29,419,291

Return

84% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

The Pledge (2001) ↗

Also by

Sean Penn

• 
  Into the Wild

  2007 · ★ 7.8
• 
  The Indian Runner

  1991 · ★ 6.5
• 
  September 11

  2002 · ★ 6.4
• 
  The Crossing Guard

  1995 · ★ 6.0
• 
  Flag Day

  2021 · ★ 5.8
• 
  The Last Face

  2017 · ★ 5.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2020-04-13
  ★ 9/10

  There can't be such devils out there. The Pledge is directed by Sean Penn and adapted to screenplay by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski from Friedrich Dürrenmatt's novel, "The Promise". It stars Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn, Aaron Eckhart, Sam Shepard, Patricia Clarkson, Helen Mirren, Tom Noonan, Benicio Del Toro, Mickey Rourke, Dale Dickey, Vanessa Redgrave and Harry Dean Stanton. Music is by Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer, and cinematography by Chris Menges. Police chief Jerry Black (Nicholson) is literally on his last day before retitement. But during his leaving party news filters through that a young girl has been brutally murdered. Talking his chiefs into letting him tag along to the crime scene, Black ends up breaking the dredful news to the girl's parents. There he pledges to the mother that he will find her daughter's killer. Dürrenmatt's source material has been mined a few times for other filmic ventures, where the best of the other bunch is "Es geschah am hellichten Tag" ("It Happened in Broad Daylight"). It is here, though, in Sean Penn's hands, that we get the version that got two thumbs up from the author, mostly because of the ending staying true to his work. It should be noted from the off that this is not police procedural detective piece. This is a slow burn, moody and edgy picture, the kind that Penn excells at as an actor. Thankfully, in spite of it losing money at the box office, it shows Penn the perfect director for such material. It obviously isn't a film for everyone, more so if not prepared for it being a picture about one man's tumbling emotional descent. As Jerry Black searches for the perpretrator of heinious crimes, he also is faced with a moral judgement call and a major affair of the heart. The trick of the screnplay here is not in the red herrings and the little dangles of clues that appear to be on offer to Jerry, it's that we are never quite sure if Jerry is actually right in his belief of a child serial killer at work. Is it the product of a man so driven by the pledge he made, that he isn't thinking straight? Or worse losing his grip on sanity? The answer will only will out with the clinically daring finale. Lead actors Nicholson and Wright Penn turn in some of their finest work, both responding to Sean's probing of troubled souls in search of an exit. There's an array of quality support actors in small parts, which is a testament to the pull that working with Penn did appeal. The musical score is nervy and sits smartly with the ethereal tones that Menges brings via his photographic lenses. The Pledge is a haunting and disturbing character study that refuses to cop out. It achieves its aims and wasn't going to pander to any crowd pleasing bums on seats tactics. A dark thriller for grown ups who have the patience for such a telling, and perhaps more crucially are prepared to have their emotions tested with the finale. 9/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Franchise Pictures

  US

• CL

  Clyde Is Hungry Films

  US

Key crew

• FinanceMichael Fitzgerald
• ProducerSean Penn
• Executive ProducerAndrew Stevens
• ProducerMichael Fitzgerald
• ProducerElie Samaha
• EditorJay Cassidy
• CastingDon Phillips
• Production DesignBill Groom
• Executive ProducerDon Carmody
• Art DirectionHelen Jarvis
• ChefTommy Baratta
• StuntsRick Pearce
• Costume DesignJill M. Ohanneson
• BookFriedrich Dürrenmatt
• Lighting TechnicianTim Heller
• Assistant Chief Lighting TechnicianJohn Dekker
• Chief Lighting TechnicianChristopher Porter
• First Assistant DirectorBrian W. Cook
• Third Assistant DirectorWarren Hanna
• Second Second Assistant DirectorTracey Poirier
• Second Assistant DirectorAndrew M. Robinson
• StuntsJoe Doserro

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• promise
• murder
• drawing
• porcupine
• pledge
• retirement party
• police profiling

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2001-01-09R
• Theatrical2001-01-19R

Also known as

International titles

• La promesseCA
• 誓言CN
• 白色死约CN
• 誓不罢休CN
• The Pledge – Das VersprechenDE
• プレッジJP