Sean Penn’s third directorial outing to date witnesses a continuation in style of the Cassavettes-inspired personal drama of his previous efforts The Indian Runner and The Crossing Guard , but is an altogether more confident and fully-formed work than either of its forebears. Penn’s low-key, slow-burning approach, with echoes of Paul Schrader’s Affliction, is wholly unlikely to pack in the crowds – but the clear evidence here is that he has become a consistently worthwhiie film-maker and one to keep a close eye on.

Naturally enough, The Pledge is about as feelgood as a savage toothache, but a sharp, intelligent screenplay, allied to Jack Nicholson’s most convincing performance in at least a decade, all combine to make for an accomplished – if sombre and seriously unsettling – piece of work. The pitch: on his last day before his retirement as a Nevada Cop, Detective Jerry Black (Nicholson) goes to the scene of a young girl’s rape and murder (by throat-slittage). Suddenly world-weary, chain-smoking, twice-divorced Jerry has a new sense of purpose in life after making a solemn promise to the child’s mother that he will track down the killer. When a mentally retarded Indian man (del Toro) confesses to the crime, Jerry remains convinced that he’s not the real culprit, and further investigation reveals that this is in fact the third similar murder to occur in the vicinity in recent years. However, Jerry’s investigation is rendered vastly more complicated by his emotional involvement with Lou (Wright-Penn), a roadhouse waitress with a seven-year-old daughter and an abusive ex-husband in tow.

Partly a gritty reworking of the detective oeuvre, and more so a deeply disturbing examination of psychological dissolution, The Pledge is to be thoroughly welcomed in a year which marks a new nadir for American cinematic output.