Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Benicio Del Toro, Dale Dickey, Wendy Morrow Donaldson, Adrien Dorval Directed By: Sean Penn Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: June 19, 2001 Running Time: 124 minutes Theatrical Release Date: January 19, 2001
Amazon.com: Jack Nicholson is detective Jerry Black, a respected and well-liked veteran of the Reno police force retiring to a life of angling with more than a little apprehension. Thus he jumps into a murder case, the slaying of a little girl, a mere six hours from retirement and makes a promise to the grieving mother to catch the killer. As his partner (an effectively abrasive Aaron Eckhart) squeezes a confession out of the severely mentally handicapped suspect (a thoroughly unsettling performance by Benicio Del Toro), Jerry is convinced that they've got the wrong man.
As in Sean Penn's previous work, this is an actors' piece. Nicholson plays Jerry with restlessness under his easy-going, smiling calm; his patient fisherman's heart leaps at every nibble while he casts for a murder suspect. And Del Toro, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave, and Mickey Rourke make striking impressions in their single-scene appearances. Penn is less concerned with the mystery than the emotional turmoil and Jerry's state of mind, interrupting moments of calm with jagged cuts and discomforting images (including some especially disturbing crime scene photos). Jerry's instincts and methods are sound and his sensitivity is real--he takes in a battered single mom (Robin Wright Penn) and her little girl, and develops a rewarding family life--but his passion for justice turns to unhealthy, destructive obsession. That's ultimately what we're left with at the conclusion of this often off-putting but ultimately fascinating film. The truth will not always set you free. --Sean Axmaker
NICHOLSON DOES NOT DISAPPOINT! Jack Nicholson is, to me, one of the best actors of this generation, and his acting in this movie was typical Nicholson. Powerful! Although the movie was electric and spell binding, it left far too big a question at the end. This may work for some movies. For this one, it did not. I did not like the ending.
Great movie, disappointing ending I just saw this movie for the first time today, never having heard of it before, but, as anything with Jack Nicholson is usually well worth watching, I gave it a shot. From the beginning, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen-it was a riveting, emotional-building roller coaster in that typically low-key Nicholson way, & I couldn't wait for the final "confrontation" with the killer. To say I was overly distraught at the ending would be an understatement. After proving that he was correct in his assumptions in the case, contrary to the intense reluctance & near-ridicule of his former police mates, Nicholson has the audience on the edge of our seats rooting for the proof of his redemption, as well as the gratitude of the mother he made the initial promise to, and the mother who's little girl he was in the process of saving, when lo & behold, the whole thing just sort of falls apart with an all-too-convenient & seemingly nonsensical fatal vehicular accident, causing everything to seem like a figment of Nicholson's mind, subsequently ruining his life & turning him into a babbling alcoholic. I, for one, would have loved (& expected to get) a closure-type ending-this movie screamed for one, but I guess that no one was listening.
This was one of the worst movies I have ever had the misfortune of enduring. The first half of the movie looks promising but I promise you you will regret watching the rest.
The Nicholson MGIC This is a great movie! I have watched it several times and will watch it again. Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors. He connects with viewers in a personal way because he shares the emotions and experiences of his character with his audience. He becomes very close to his audience which makes this movie become an experience of the viewer.
The murder of the child is given distance through the characters in the movie that suffered with her. I hate child murder stories but I felt the fear, panic, outrage and frustration of the people around the child's death.
All Star Cast Underused "Murder on the Orient Express" is best remembered for its great cast, although each star had only a few lines. We were supposed to appreciate every second of their appearances. This style of film making went out with silverware in the Pullman car, but Sean Penn has brought it back here. We get a little of Vanessa Redgrave, a bit of Helen Mirren, a cameo from Mickey Rourke. This is a treat, admittedly, but it throws things off. Nicholson is trying is erase himself and these stars just throw a beam of light in his direction. The story seems rather textbook: the retiring cop who can't let go. The "boys" who thwart justice. The bully cop who'll do anything for a confession. The cast is pure stock and trade stuff; in fact, we see much of this again in "Mystic River." It seems Penn's bag of tricks was found in the wardrobe department at RKO. There is nothing of interest in the narrative. He seems to have a thing for men protecting little girls from death. Here Nicholson is working hard for the Santa Claus prize, but what makes all this worthy of all the craft? All the talent is in service of what?
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