Customer Reviews

Abandon [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(27)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I remember when I went and saw this for the first time and everyone I was with thought it was terrible. I remember being in shock because I thought it was quite good. Granted, at the time of its release I was in love with Katie Holmes and thought she could do no wrong. Now, years later I decided to watch this again to see if it holds up now that my fascination with Holmes has diminished due to her insanely strange new outlook on life. Well, it does. I don't know what to say to all these people who find this film horrendous. I actually really like it. It works, it's solid and it impresses me to this day. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's so much better than many make it out to be.

The film revolves around Katie Burke, a young college student who is haunted by the memory of her ex-boyfriend Embry. Embry has been out of her life for two years now, just up and disappearing, but suddenly he seems to be returning. This begins to take its toll on Katie when Wade, a police detective battling his own demons, begins investigating Embry's disappearance. Katie is struggling to complete her thesis and land a good job but the sudden reappearance of Embry is throwing a wrench in everything. As her relationship with Wade begins to flourish her own demons come to the surface and soon we realize that Katie is not who we think she is and that Embry's reappearance may have more meaning than we could ever imagine.

`Abandon' plays out like a B-movie, but a very good one at that. It's not as polished as most Hollywood fare; it's gritty and dark, and I think this does the film a huge service (thought I was gonna say `disservice' didn't you). `Abandon' is at moments chilling and this is thanks in large part to Holmes performance. Katie has always had potential but it wasn't until just before she went cuckoo for Tom Cruise that she actually began to tap into it. Her performances in this film as well as 2003's `Pieces of April' are among her finest to date. It's a shame she has thrown it all away.

The rest of the cast does a fine job as well. Benjamin Bratt does his best to stand out but doesn't fare so well. His scenes are smothered with Katie's commanding presence. Zooey Daschanel is funny and witty as Katie's friend Samantha and the beautiful Gabriel Union delivers as Amanda (although I really wish she had more screen time). Melanie Lynskey manages to make me remember her (as she always does) but it's Charlie Hunnam who really grabbed my attention. As the mysterious Embry he really gets under the skin and makes a lasting impression.

Stephen Gaghan's script is tightly woven and, while not exactly mind blowing and or original it manages to strike fresh blood; creeping us out as well as making us think. `Abandon' is surely misunderstood and underappreciated. Don't let the negative press keep you away from this one.

**1/2 "Abandon" is yet another in a long line of mystery films in which the audience is supposed to be thrown for a loop when it comes time for the filmmakers to unveil their "surprise, turnabout" ending. Only, in this case, most reasonably intelligent filmgoers should be able to spot the outcome miles ahead of the characters.

Katie Holmes stars as Katie Burke, an attractive but overstressed college student who has had serious abandonment issues ever since her father left her when she was a little girl. It turns out that Katie was also dumped by her boyfriend, Embry Larkin, two years ago when he mysteriously vanished from school without a trace. Benjamin Bratt plays Wade Handler, a detective sent to investigate the disappearance who believes that the boy may have met with foul play. Suddenly, Katie starts seeing Embry popping up in various places around campus. Has he returned or is someone playing a cruel and vicious game on the distraught young woman?

"Abandon" provides passable entertainment for undemanding mystery buffs, I suppose, but the film, as a whole, is neither particularly suspenseful nor particularly intriguing. The details of Bratt's past, which are supposed to somehow figure into his psychology, are so sketchily filled in that we have almost no idea of what the trauma was that supposedly turned his life around. Katie's issues are a little more clearly outlined, but her character still emerges as little more than a pop psychology cliché - as is the whole movie, in fact, when you come right down to it.

"Abandon" is not really a bad film, just an instantly forgettable one. Chances are it might fit the bill on one of those long, lonely nights when the brain goes into snooze mode and anything of any real substance just seems too taxing.

Suckered in by the synopsis of this film on a box office channel I decided to check it out. The film follows the tale of a female college student in the middle of writing her thesis, who finds herself suddenly involved in the investigation of her ex-boyfriend's disappearance 2 years ago. After a fairly decent start that managed to keep me interested, I found myself unbelievably being gently lulled into a peaceful sleep at 2 in the afternoon by the film's dire lack of pace, extremeley quiet low key performances, and dull rambling script. After several minutes of my head lolling forward I found that I could no longer fight the hypnotic power of Abandon, and gave in to it's will. I woke up somewhere near the end, some 45 minutes later, where the film wound up with one of those not-really-much-of-a-surprise endings. I really am struggling to find something positive to say about the film. Some of the lighting was quite nice, and the opening music was very mood-setting. Katie Homles was ok. But apart from that, it was very poor. The basic idea was extremely good, but somehow the film just completely fails to deliver. I just get the feeling that it could have been so much more - a better script, better leading men and more inventive ideas could have saved it. As it is, I would avoid, unless you're wide awake at 1 am panicing about not getting enough sleep for work. In which case, stick it on and sail away to the land of nod...

Abandon was a very strange movie. I heard about the movie earlier in the year on a website and thought that it looked pretty good. When I saw it I thought that it was strange but great. Alot of people say that Abandon is very predictable but I didn't guess the ending. The ending was great and left you in a state where you knew that there had to be a sequal. This is the type of movie where you just have to ignore what all of the reveiwers think and just go see it if you think that it looks interesting!

It stars Katie Holmes as.....Katie Burke who is in her senior year at college. Katie is under alot of stress trying to finsh her thesis and taking job interveiws. She is also just getting over the fact that her rich boyfriend Embry has been missing for two years. Embry is played by Charlie Hunnam. Since he has not spent any money or has been seen everybody thinks that he is dead. Enter Detective Wade Handler who is a recovering alcoholic and has been assigned to find out more on the Embry case. Wade's investigation leads right to Katie and he questions her to find out more. Everything is fine untill Katie starts to see a person who looks exactly like Embry. The supporting cast is also very great. The very talented Zooey Deschannel (The New Guy, Big Trouble),Gabrielle Union and Melanie Lynskey also light up the screen.

The only problem with Abandon is how it is a little slow at the beginning and the scene when they are drunk or high at a party. I felt that that scene was a little too much. To conclude I liked Abandon and if I have a little extra money it would probally become part of my DVD collection.

ENJOY!

I'm not a person that is easily bored but I could not wait until this movie was over. The only reason I continued to watch it was just because I wanted to see the end (which, by the way) was pretty predictable. I didn't watch it at the theater and I didn't rent it either. It just happened to be on one day and that is why I even started watching it. Final verdict: If you're curious to watch it, just wait until it's on TV but don't spend money on it.

Katie Holmes is one of those actresses seemingly set for stardom, with those perenially girlish looks and lop sided pout.
However, with this sort of effort on her CV, even with a front page headline marriage, she will soon be doomed to straight to video shelves for the rest of her career. This movie aims for off kilter edgy psycholgical thrills - 'what is really going on' paranoia. But in the end, what it actually achieves is boredom and 'who really cares' apathy.
The story revolves around a colege student preparing for her thesis. She starts having memories surface of her boyfriend, who disappeared strangely 2 years ago, when an ex alcoholic detective is sent to investigate his disappearance. The investigation leads to her seeing the ex boyfriend again. The tension revolves around the uncertainty of whether what she is seeing is real or not.
It's not really a bad movie; the director uses various time dislocation tricks to put the audience off kilter, and Holmes fans will enjoy - just dont expect excitement or any real tension, from a thriller which is clearly intended to be both exciting and tense.

Academy Award Winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (Best Screenplay,
Traffic) made his directorial debut with this film. Oddly enough, a few years later he wrote one of the most acclaimed films of the year "Syriana". The man is obviously talented, so I found it odd that this film recieved so much lack of approval. Well, I'm the kind of person who has respect for a lot of films that people don't like (some indie films) and I'm the kind of person who has respect for movies that critics don't like (Fun With Dick & Jane, Wild Things). So, I was surprised that I didn't like this movie. It's all right in the beginning, but this twist at the end was so stupid and semi-predictable it ruined the whole experience for me. Anyways, a pre-Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes plays Katie, a young college student vying to get a job at a banking company. Around this time, a cop named Wade (Benjamin Bratt) begins asking questions about her ex-boyfriend Embry Larkin (Charlie Hunnam).
Embry has been missing for two years, he hasn't used his credit accounts or plan tickets he had when he went missing. But, then Katie begins to see Embry and suspects that he's spying on her...Duh. That's pretty much the plot. Zooey Deschanel, a massively underrated actress, plays Katie's friend
Sam who has almost all the good lines/one liners. This isn't the first movie Deschanel has made slightly better either (Failure to Launch anyone?). Anyways, Gaghan has returned to form with his last film but I don't know what happened here. This movie is a mess and a waste of time. C-

And so the major critics pasted this movie with an uncertain disapointment all over. As did your average movie-goers with ammateur criticism of 'their own'.

But, yes, I agree with their praise in Katie Holmes's performance, as well as the rest of the cast. The intelligent writing, the development of all of the characters, the lazy-like mood and dark settings, the cinematography, etc. Beautiful.

What critics disliked was the ending.

Tell me you understood it. Tell me you simply understood all the situations as they were happening. I did.

Maybe if people would open up their minds to something new and different, view this movie at least once more, you'll see it. And you'll see it for the first time.

Don't expect an 'edge-of-your-seat' kind of thriller. Expect a hypnotic -- sometimes dramatic -- psychological -- and must I add creative -- brilliant first-attempt of a film.

Good going Gaghan. Real good.

Both him and Katie cannot and should not be ashamed of having done 'Abandon.' Such a fine job that is and was well written and very well done.

Applause.

Katie Holmes is utterly wasted on this movie. It starts off interesting, with Holmes trying to pick up her life after her boyfriend vanishes, but quickly goes downhill from there. We learn that she has been left first by her father, then by Embry...and that this is her worst fear. What is supposed to be a surprise twist ending is anything but, because the least astute of viewers can quickly figure this one out. The empty ending - with her about to be left by yet another lover - resolves nothing. Get the DVD of "Dawson's Creek" instead. It's far more entertaining.

I tend to be rather forgiving of this kind of suspenseful thriller, even one as predictable as this one. Abandon basically tries to accomplish what a number of other recent films have already accomplished, and that growing audience familiarity with this genre deprives Abandon of some of the shock value it might otherwise have had. It may well pack a real punch to those who don't see the climax coming, and I think it plays rather well even to those who won't be surprised in the least, but some viewers will undoubtedly judge the film forgettable.

I'm not Katie Holmes' biggest fan, and I was prepared to be unimpressed after her first few scenes, but she gradually seemed to grow into her character, and in the end I was fairly impressed by her performance. The dark and mysterious atmosphere of the film was also a plus. Since the story held no ultimate surprise for me, the acting and atmosphere pretty much took on the responsibility of holding my attention. A couple of reasonably creepy scenes definitely scored this film some extra points on my scorecard.

Katie Burke (Katie Holmes) seems to be all set for success. Sure, she's having a little trouble finishing her thesis, but she's smart, meticulously organized, and a big hit at job interviews with high-paying companies. Then the past starts to catch up with her, and everything starts to unravel. A couple of years ago, she dated this incredibly pompous nonconformist (in all things, definitely including hairstyle) who thrived on showing up everyone around him in a desperate bid for attention. Ol' Embry (Charlie Hunnam) up and disappeared a few weeks before graduating, though, and he hasn't been heard from since. The guy inherited gobs of money, though, so the cops are still actively working the case. That's where Detective Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt) comes in, as he is assigned to work the two-year-old case upon his return to active duty (following some personal problems with substance abuse). What if Embry suddenly returns? All Katie needs is a little more stress in her life. And is it her fault that men seem to keep falling in love with her?

Abandoned turned out to be a pretty good psychological thriller that succeeds in maintaining a dark and menacing atmosphere throughout. I don't think its transitions between past, present, and future are handled all that smoothly, but the pathway toward the climax is a veritable funnel of emotional intensity. It's too predictable to be great, but Abandon is more than capable of commanding your attention throughout.