Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on March 20, 2005 at 16:08:27

In Reply to: Another pointless movie about a serial killer with posted by tinear on March 2, 2005 at 13:56:20:

"He provides no "Sisyphus-ian" triumph of man over adversity"
"Hell, he doesn't even give us the satisfaction of having the killer dealt with by Nicholson."

Guess what? Sometimes the crime is not solved, much less dealt with in a satisfactory manner. The only place that most crimes are "solved" is in the land of Hollywood, or it's cousin, Fantasy Land. That is because most test audiences require a neat and tidy result, and Hollywood executives, ever aware of the return of the dollar, capitulate to the test audience. In other words, dumbing down the material. In real life, the overwhelming majority of crimes are not solved. Even violent crimes. Penn has the courage not to make a cookie cutter crime film.

This was also evident in his prior fil, The Crossing Guard. I liked The Pledge, but loved The Crossing Guard, again with Nicholson. The ending in the former film dealt with the death of Nicholson's daughter at the hands of a drunk driver. He spends his life consumed with retribution. It destroys his marriage. The retribution never comes. The end is one of the most tender, and unanticipated, resolutions I have ever seen.

Penn is not looking for retribution, revenge, or any of those other things. In the Pledge, I think he is looking at what makes the person tick, why is this guy obsessed, and then what does that person do when it is time for the rubber to hit the road. Why would this guy change his entire life to resolve this one crime? Does he feel something special for the victim? Is it because he has a file drawer of unsolved crimes, and his retirement allows him to stretche the rules a little? Is there anything he would not do to catch the killer? Use a little girl that he is clearly fond of? Those are not themes that most directors use as the center of their films, much less comment upon, particularly in crime films.

There certainly is violence. It is Rated "R". But I think that you may be seeing the trees instead of the forest. Rather than think about tidy endings, dire events, and depictions of violence, I thought about the themes above. That I cannot recall any other director making me think those things within the context of a film makes me think that at least Penn took a tried and true formula and placed some original material there.