The Pledge (2001) Jack Nicholson Jerry Black Robin Wright Lori Benicio Del Toro Toby Jay Wadenah Vanessa Redgrave Annalise Hansen--Victim s Grandmother Aaron Eckhart Detective Stan Krolak Helen Mirren Doctor Sam Shepard Eric Pollack Tom Noonan Gary Jackson Michael O'Keefe Duane Larson Mickey Rourke Jim Olstand Harry Dean Stanton Floyd Cage Patricia Clarkson Margaret Larsen--Young Victim s Mother Dale Dickey Strom Costas Mandylor Monash Deputy Pauline Roberts Chrissy--Lori's Daughter Lois Smith Helen Jackson Beau Daniels Rudy Directed by: Sean Penn Produced by: Andrew Stevens, Michael Fitzgerald, Sean Penn On the day of his retirement, Nevada homicide detective Jerry Black lingers in his office one last time. But when the body of a murdered 8-year-old girl is discovered in the snow-blanketed mountains, the reluctant retiree is unable to step aside. Jerry offers his expertise at the crime scene, and takes it upon himself to deliver the devastating news to the victim's parents. The grieving mother begs Jerry for answers. Faced with the tragic nature of the crime, the parent's suffering and his own uncertainty about life after the police force, Jerry swears on his soul to find the killer. When an ambitious younger cop wrenches a dubious confession from a simple-minded suspect, the case is closed, but not for Jerry. Despite the skepticism of his peers, Jerry follows his hunch that the real killer is still at large and set to strike again. But how far will Jerry go to fulfill his promise? And at what cost? ========== The night he retires as a Nevada sheriff, Jerry Black pledges to the mother of a murdered girl that he will find the killer. Jerry doesn't believe the police arrested the right man; he discovers this is the third incident in the area in the recent past with victims young, blond, pretty, and small for their age. So he buys an old gas station in the mountains near the crimes in order to search for a tall man who drives a black station wagon, gives toy porcupines as gifts, and calls himself the wizard: clues from a drawing by the dead girl. Jerry's solitary life gives way to friendship with a woman and her small, blond daughter. Has Jerry neglected something that may prove fatal?