Movie: The Pledge(2001)

Tripple Oscar winning thespian Nicholson teams up for the second time with Sean Penn to produce this offbeat, 'wierd' detective tale.
Nicholson plays an aging detective just 6 hours from retirement. He takes on the task of solving the murder of a young girl. His partner forces a confession of the murder from a retarde man.
The detective is not convinced that they have the right man and goes on a search till it becomes a sick obsession. The end is unexpected but a real nadir.
Moral: Offbeat endings do not always a good movie make.
Grade: Fair

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Movie: The Crossing Guard(1995)

Directed by Sean Penn, this movie stars Jack Nicholson, Angelica Houston and David Morse.
A girl is the victim of a fatal drunken driving accident. Her father(Jack Nicholson) wants retribution. The guilt-striken culprit(David Morse) wants punishment. The scene where the vengeful father confonts his daughter's killer is one of the greatest highlights of this movie. David Morse holds his own against the veteran thespian Nicholson.
However, the end was a bit of a let-down, a little too dramatic in this case. Clearly, directing is not Penn's forte. Still watchable because of some great performances.

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