Whoever doesn't like this film might not understand the influence behind it.
I saw this when it came out in 1991 and thought it was a slow, dull, lagging soap-opera. Back then I didn't know much about the art or the business of film. Most "general" movie watchers would not like this film for the same reasons.
Then I watched an interview w/Sean Penn and he said his big influence was John Cassavetes, who had recently passed away. So I went back & watched some of Cassavetes' films again. His films were social dramas between friends, usually in New York, struggling with their own inner conflicts. After that, when I watch Sean Penn's first four films (as filmmaker) I can totally see Cassavetes all over his film. Especially Penn's third film "The Pledge." Never has his inspiration been so strong than in the way Nicholson struggled with his demons. But for people who don't understand this, it's just an average, insignificant movie to them.
I saw this when it came out in 1991 and thought it was a slow, dull, lagging soap-opera. Back then I didn't know much about the art or the business of film. Most "general" movie watchers would not like this film for the same reasons.
Then I watched an interview w/Sean Penn and he said his big influence was John Cassavetes, who had recently passed away. So I went back & watched some of Cassavetes' films again. His films were social dramas between friends, usually in New York, struggling with their own inner conflicts. After that, when I watch Sean Penn's first four films (as filmmaker) I can totally see Cassavetes all over his film. Especially Penn's third film "The Pledge." Never has his inspiration been so strong than in the way Nicholson struggled with his demons. But for people who don't understand this, it's just an average, insignificant movie to them.