The Pledge marks the stunning performance of Jack Nicholson. He is seen as a retired police detective finding a young girl’s killer. But it wasn’t just a murder but a killing spree. The American thriller film was released in 2001.
The storyline engages us right from the start. If we talk about the ending, it isn’t very pleasant for some of the fans. They comment, ‘the ending destroyed the beauty of the movie’, ‘saddest ending’, and ‘the end killed the whole movie.’ But for some, the movie’s main message lies in the end only. Despite varied views, the film thrilled us all.
Jerry Black, a police detective from Nevada, comes across the news of the murder of an eight-year-old girl at his retirement party. He visits the site with another detective, Stan Krolak. Jerry also went to the girl’s family to inform them about her death. Her mother, Margaret Larsen, takes a pledge from Jerry to find her daughter’s killer.
The pledge inspires him to start the investigation. The police team falsely accused a Native American man, Toby, of the murder. He had a mental disability. Police took advantage of it and directed him to confess the crime. Post confessing, Toby dies of suicide, and the case closes. But detective Jerry wasn’t satisfied with it. He learned that three other girls were also killed in the same pattern. Also, the murdered girl, Ginny was friends with a mystery man.
But, the findings did not reopen the case. Jerry takes the matter into his hands and buys a gas station near the location of the murders. Meanwhile, Jerry comes across a waitress Lori and her daughter Chrissy. He develops a fatherly affection for Chrissy.
This little girl also begins meeting with an ‘unknown friend.’ The unknown friend had similarities with Ginny’s mystery man. Chrissy tells Jerry that she is about to meet her unknown friend. Jerry sees this as an opportunity and convinces Stan to catch him.
The high-voltage climax starts. The arena was all set with Chrissy as bait. But they kept on waiting, and the killer never came. Stan discloses everything to Lori, and she leaves Jerry for putting her daughter’s life at stake. In the end, Poor Jerry is left all alone.
The Pledge Ending Explained
The ending scene of the film shows Jerry in a turmoil state. The failure of Ginny’s murder investigation deeply impacted his psychological state. He is seen drinking and ruined. Jerry’s lady love, Lori breaks up with him. The police team lost faith in him. And his gas station business is stopped now. So, what happened to the mystery killer? Was he too clever to be caught? Actually, NO. Jerry was right from the start.
We could have seen an exciting face-off between the killer and Jerry. But, the expectations of a heated climax were ruined when the murderer died in a road accident. And that’s how; the ending became the most depressing for some movie lovers. So, who was the killer?
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You will see him at 35.31 in a shop window. It’s Oliver, the man with grey hair. He is always shown from the back for a short period. He works in a candy shop and drives a black wagon.
Early in the movie, a lady shopkeeper calls out to Oliver to handle the customer. There’s also a scene at the last when the shopkeeper again asks Oliver about the chocolates. He used these chocolates to lure young girls. His black car with a hanging toy porcupine was also shown in Ginny’s drawings. It was the same car that had an accident. The film was indeed clever in giving hints.
The Pledge – Cast, Characters, and Production
The Pledge did not create any magic at the box office but won critical acclaim. The film, directed by Sean Penn, is based on a 1958 novella, The Pledge. It is written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Most of its shoots are done in the interiors of British Columbia.
The suspense drama had a stellar cast. Jack Nicholson blew minds with his intense performance as Jerry Black. His colleague Stan Krolak is played by Aaron Eckhart. Actor Benicio Del Toro is cast as Toby, and Patricia Clarkson plays Ginny’s mother, Margaret. Jerry’s love interest Lori was played by Robin Wright.
And Pauline Roberts starred as Chrissy. For some of the viewers, the ending of the film was classic. It tells us that life doesn’t unfold as we expect it to. Also, it’s not always the hero who wins. What’s your take on it?
Hi Shailja. I enjoyed your review of ‘The Pledge’, so thanks for posting. Here’s my take on the movie:
I did thoroughly enjoy the film and give praise to all concerned. My only criticism of it would be that Jerry would easily have figured out that the reason that the killer didn’t show up was because he was killed in the crash. Obviously the accident would have been a major talking point in the small town and the time and location of the incident would strongly suggest he was on his way to meet the little girl. Thus Jerry would not have spiraled into depression at all, he would have felt vindicated.
There seems to be confusion among reviewers on IMDB on the identity of the killer. The lady in the porcupine shop clearly explains at around the 1.18 mark (Netflix version) that he’s her son, who works in construction, drives the snowplow and ministers on Sundays. He also has a black car and is very tall.
My only other point is that the police would never have used the little girl as bait, far too dangerous and totally unacceptable.
The movie did raise several issues, especially around retirement and losing one’s purpose in life. It was also interesting how Gerry ‘groomed’ Chrissy to help him catch the killer, in much the same way the killer groomed her for his purposes. There’s some discussion to be had there about the ends justifying the means.
Despite these gripes, it’s a fascinating and gripping film and I really enjoyed it.
Anyway, do you agree with those points or am I missing something?
Best wishes,
Tim.
Hi Tim! I know you were speaking to me but I wanted to comment that your take is a very strong one; and I have to say I agree 100%.
The story would’ve been made better that Jerry knew the killer had died in the crash; but no one would believe him as he was now a drunken fool, one that lost his business ( one that ran for 30 years before he showed up) and mentally ill/unstable. Plus “Oliver” was a nice old man that worked at the sweet shop; no way he could’ve done those murders. That would’ve been a huge way for it to go down. Basically the small town folk protecting their own from the insane city guy; trying to stir up trouble for his past failures, a male Karen in a sense.
Nice job!
Shane
I have loved Jack Nicholson as an actor for many of his movies. I saw the 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and it broke my heart! That was probably the first movie I had seen with Mr. Nicholson. Now after watching the 2001 movie The Pledge, it seems as if Mr. Nicholson is ending his career with another very sad movie. I did not like the ending of The Pledge. I believe Jerry needed to be vindicated by having persisted in his quest to find the real killer, and in his success in finding him! I would have loved the movie more had the killer walked into the police trap and to have finally been caught, and for Jerry to have been vindicated. Above all, I wanted the ending to demonstrate that evil does not pay, and that anyone trying to harm anyone – especially an innocent little girl – would in the end be caught. That did not happen in The Pledge, and I felt robbed with the sad ending of this movie, and I wish the ending had been different. Still, this was a superb movie directed by Sean Penn and acted superbly by Mr. Nicholson. Had the ending reflected the wish of so many people and had the killer been caught without harming the last little girl, this movie would have memorialized Mr. Nicholson as an incredible actor, and people would remember him making an incredible movie where evil is destroyed. No. I am not happy with the end of this movie, and I felt disappointed and I felt Mr. Nicholson must have felt robbed of a better ending than of the one at the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” movie. But of course, I am simply an admirer of Mr. Nicholson’s talents. Still, for me, Mr. Nicholson is one of my most favorite actors!