Some spoilers... Nicholson's character, 6 hours from retirement as one of the the best police detectives ever, gets sucked into this case, the gruesome molestation, murder and dismemberment of a 7-yr-old girl in the woods, in the snow, and when the mother asks, about not giving up until the killer is found, "Do you swear on your soul's salvation", he unwisely says "Yes"!! I could have lost interest at that point, because it was ridiculous for anyone to ask such a thing, and equally ridiculous for a sane person to say 'yes', but perhaps they thought it was necessary for the rest of the film to feel right.
So he devotes his life in retirement, telling a doubting cop, "You're old enough to remember when a promise meant something." He studies the case, finds connections to others, discovers a drawing of "a giant", the "wizard" with a black car who was giving her chocolate porcupine candies, buys a local gas station for surveillance of all the people in the area, gets involved with a lady (Robin Wright Penn) and her little girl, using bad judgement uses the girl as "bait", mom is rightly upset, the "wizard" never shows up for the meeting he arranged.
What is unique in this film is that only us, the audience, and none of the characters, ever figure out what happened. Nicholson's character becomes a chain smoker, a drunk, loses his relationships, his gas station fails, he is rapidly becoming crazy, all because he made this "pledge" that he can never fulfill and he can never realize that.
The killer was Oliver, the husband of the Christmas Store lady, near the end was hunting in the store, saying, "Oliver, where did you put those candies. Oh, here's some...", the chocolate porcupine candies. We see Oliver driving his car towards the meeting point, crossing the centerline, and dying in a blazing head-on crash with a large truck. All the cops in the stake-out, all the towns people, none of them ever suspected that Oliver was the killer. The fire would have destroyed any evidence, like the candies, that may have tied him to the crimes.
It is interesting that we never really see Oliver, except a hazy image through a window of the Christmas Store, or his fluffy grey hair from behind as he drives the car. There is no character development for him, because none is needed. The story is not about him, it is about Nicholson's character and how a good intention (the "pledge") can ultimately, through a quirk of fate, destroy your life.
My wife and I both found this a very absorbing film, lots of opportunity to guess, usually incorrectly, what would happen next. Watching the film on DVD is a big help, as we were able to go back, after the end, to replay parts of key scenes to piece everything together. It is all there, if you listen and watch carefully. Good movie, good job by Penn and Nicholson, I rate it "8" of 10.
So he devotes his life in retirement, telling a doubting cop, "You're old enough to remember when a promise meant something." He studies the case, finds connections to others, discovers a drawing of "a giant", the "wizard" with a black car who was giving her chocolate porcupine candies, buys a local gas station for surveillance of all the people in the area, gets involved with a lady (Robin Wright Penn) and her little girl, using bad judgement uses the girl as "bait", mom is rightly upset, the "wizard" never shows up for the meeting he arranged.
What is unique in this film is that only us, the audience, and none of the characters, ever figure out what happened. Nicholson's character becomes a chain smoker, a drunk, loses his relationships, his gas station fails, he is rapidly becoming crazy, all because he made this "pledge" that he can never fulfill and he can never realize that.
The killer was Oliver, the husband of the Christmas Store lady, near the end was hunting in the store, saying, "Oliver, where did you put those candies. Oh, here's some...", the chocolate porcupine candies. We see Oliver driving his car towards the meeting point, crossing the centerline, and dying in a blazing head-on crash with a large truck. All the cops in the stake-out, all the towns people, none of them ever suspected that Oliver was the killer. The fire would have destroyed any evidence, like the candies, that may have tied him to the crimes.
It is interesting that we never really see Oliver, except a hazy image through a window of the Christmas Store, or his fluffy grey hair from behind as he drives the car. There is no character development for him, because none is needed. The story is not about him, it is about Nicholson's character and how a good intention (the "pledge") can ultimately, through a quirk of fate, destroy your life.
My wife and I both found this a very absorbing film, lots of opportunity to guess, usually incorrectly, what would happen next. Watching the film on DVD is a big help, as we were able to go back, after the end, to replay parts of key scenes to piece everything together. It is all there, if you listen and watch carefully. Good movie, good job by Penn and Nicholson, I rate it "8" of 10.