10 Amazing Movie Plot Twists That Never Get Talked About

Although the actor has never formally or officially announced his retirement from acting, you could hedge a safe bet that Jack Nicholson has retired his trademark million-dollar smile from the silver screen for good. 

The three-time Academy Award winner has had quite a career. Still, one of his finest performances will have undoubtedly not been seen by many, and that would be his portrayal of the soon-to-be-retired police detective Jerry Black in Sean Penn's The Pledge. 

The film follows Nicholson's character, having sworn on a cross to find the killer of a family's murdered daughter, and the twists and turns that follow as a result. 

Obsessed with catching his suspected culprit for this murder and several others, Black hatches an elaborate plan to catch the mysterious 'Wizard' in the film's final act. However, it goes awry when he fails to show, leaving Jerry red-faced. We, the audience, have become so accustomed to movies like these reaching a satisfying conclusion, and that's where The Pledge differs. 

It's one thing for the twist to be that the protagonist is wrong, but it's another for him to be right, but never know he is due to the 'Wizard' being killed in a car accident whilst on his way to the planned ambush and arrest.

It is a brilliant subversion of expectations that leaves Nicholson's character overwhelmed by guilt, succumbing to madness after failing to fulfil the promise we all expected him to.