The Other Jack Nicholson
Look over his career and you can almost see two Jack Nicholsons at work.
The first is the best-known. He is seen in Batman, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Terms of Endearment, The Witches of Eastwick, Chinatown, Goin' South — divergent movies of varying quality save for Nicholson's leering eyebrow, sly wit and quicksilver tongue. This is the Nicholson everybody imitates, the guy who, win or lose, always has a good comeback line and, to varying degrees, a loony larger-than-life quality that can transcend — and sometimes obliterate — whatever narrative line he inhabits.
The other Nicholson is the one you might see in Sean Penn's latest movie, The Pledge, which debuts this weekend. This is the smaller, quieter and often more complicated character you find in Prizzi's Honor, Ironweed, The Border, Blood and Wine and The King of Marvin Gardens. This Nicholson sheds his powerful personality and scene-stealing tricks to become Everyman: rumpled, slower, bull-like, he does not have all the answers. Far from it. (Nicholson's Oscar-winning turn in As Good As It Gets combined the two, not always successfully.)
In The Pledge, Nicholson plays Detective Jerry Black, a 1950s-era homicide detective about to retire who comes across a murder scene, involving an 8-year-old girl, that he just can't shake. Something about it feels wrong to him, and though other police handling the case arrest a suspect, he assures the girl's mother (Robin Wright Penn) that he will catch the real killer when he resurfaces.
As a director, Penn's movies (The Indian Runner, Crossing Guard) are about macho guys living up to, or trying to live up to, codes of conduct. They're feasts for actors, explorations of deep feelings and motivations (even if the plots aren't always very plausible), and they draw big-name, talented actors. The Pledge is no exception: Helen Mirren, Benicio Del Toro, Vanessa Redgrave, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shepard, Harry Dean Stanton, and Costas Mandylor are among the supporting players. The Pledge is rated R and has some grisly scenes.
The week's other debut answers the question, what does Guy Ritchie do when he's not being Mr. Madonna? Snatch is a caper comedy with a labyrinth plot that is Director Ritchie's follow-up to the goofy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
OK, here's my attempt at a plot summary: Diamond thief and courier Franky Four Fingers (Del Toro again) arrives in London en route to New York to deliver a huge diamond to his crime syndicate boss Avi (Dennis Farina). While there, he bets on a crooked boxing match and quickly gets drawn into that scam as well. Money, guns, Brad Pitt's British accent and other complications ensue.
One thing about Ritchie: with characters in his movie named Cousin Avi, Boris The Blade, Franky Four Fingers and Bullet Tooth Tony, no one will ever accuse him of taking himself too seriously. As in Lock, Stck and Two Smoking Barrels, Ritchie uses a fast camera and ready-made character types to blend several genres — boxing movies, diamond-heist flicks — into one breezy package. At least, let's hope it breezes along; a movie like this works when it communicates enough fun to overcome the occasionally patchwork plotting. Snatch is rated R.
By Nick Sambides Jr