“The Pledge”: Movies I Love, Part XXX

Posted: June 16th, 2010 | Filed under: Cinema, Ruminations | No Comments »

I’m going to start courtside at the Lakers/ Celtics NBA Finals series. Trust me, this isn’t about sports.

It’s about an LA hoops fan so iconic in a town full of them that, when spotted in the crowdby TV cameras — not difficult, he always sits in the front row by the court — he’s identified by only his first name.

Jack.

Since he burst on the scene — in his 29th film — as George Hanson, the stoned lawyer in a football helmet who talked about the “Venutians” around the campfire with Fonda and Hopper in “Easy Rider,” Jack Nicholson has been all that and a bag o’ chips.

His cinematic portrayals have been among the best and most memorable of the last half century.

He was J.J. Gittes in my second favorite film of all time, “Chinatown.” Robert Dupea, who only wanted some wheat toast at the diner in “Five Easy Pieces.” Jonathan, the scoundrel in “Carnal Knowledge.” R.P. McMurphy in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.” Not to mention the wacked, oh so blissfully Jack performance as  Jack Torrence in “The Shining” — “Here’s Johnny!!!” –  Jimmy Hoffa and the Joker, among many more.

As much as I love his portrayal of the private dick not as smart as he thought he was in Roman Polanski’s brilliant “Chinatown,” one guy’s opinion is his best performance ever was as retired police detective Jerry Black in Sean Penn’s “The Pledge.”

On the day of his retirement, Black, an honest, hard working cop, investigates the rape and murder of a young girl. He ends up pledging to her mother (Patricia Clarkson) that he’ll find the killer. It becomes his obsession, even after an addled Native American (Bencio del Toro) is suspected of the murder and kills himself during questioning by another detective (Aaron Eckhart).

The film is more character study than cop trying to solve a case potboiler. Yet it works as both. Nicholson, 57 when he made the film, is devoid of affectation here. His drive and demons and flaws and maturity reveal themselves subtly. He’s on to something in finding the serial killer. And such is his obsession that he’s driven to put those he loves in harm’s way to honor his commitment.

This is a movie full with anguish. But the nuance and intensity grow as the movie progresses to an unexpected finale.

Jaaaaack, the guy known for that lurid  gleam in his eye that says he’s trouble, never appears in “The Pledge.” Jack Nicholson, the awrd winning actor worthy of his fame, does.

This is far from an easy film. But it’s well worth the watch.

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