Abandon
by Stephen Gaghan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Benjamin Bratt, Charlie Hunnam, Fred Ward, Katie Holmes, Zooey DeschanelDirector: Stephen Gaghan
Brand: Paramount
Writer: Stephen Gaghan
Producer: Edward Zwick
Producer: Elizabeth Joan Hooper
Producer: Gary Barber
Producer: Lynda Obst
Producer: Richard Vane
Producer: Roger Birnbaum
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-03-18
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Abandon
Movie Review: Better off as a one hour TV Episode
Summary: 2 Stars
Detective Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt) is the sad-sack protagonist of
'Abandon' (which should have been more aptly named 'Abandoned').
Handler has just returned to his assignment on the police force after
being suspended (presumably) for a DWI or drinking on the job.
Handler's supervisor won't allow him to use a squad car and wants to
break him in slowly so he assigns Handler to a missing person's case.
What's so unusual about this case is that the missing person in
question, Embry Larkin, an artsy but rebellious college student,
disappeared two years ago. It seems unlikely that a detective (even one
who is returning after a suspension) would be assigned to a missing
person's case (especially one that is two years old) since typically
missing person's cases are not considered priority matters for a police
investigation.
Nonetheless, Handler focuses his attention on Embry's last girlfriend
at the college, Katie Burke (played by Katie Holmes). Katie at first
appears to be a bright Ph.D. student who's about to finish her
dissertation and apply for a high-powered corporate job at a successful
consulting firm. After awhile, Katie starts believing that she's been
seeing Embry pop up around campus. The film's scenarist, Stephen Gaghan
(of Syriana fame), intentionally keeps you in the dark until the film's
end as to whether these Embry sightings are merely figments of Katie's
imagination or actual appearances by the former boyfriend.
The story unfortunately drags on much too long with Katie's fleeting
glimpses of Embry. Nothing much happens in terms of the plot until
another one of Katie's long-term suitors, Harrison Hobart, disappears.
Katie's confrontations with Embry become more aggressive as she accuses
him of having a hand in Harrison's disappearance. Katie is becoming
more unhinged and starts seeing a shrink to cope with the disturbing
confrontations she's been having with Embry.
Meanwhile, the clueless detective Handler has not been acting like a
very good detective. Instead of being suspicious of all possible
suspects (including Katie), he seems to accept everything she tells him
at face value. As it turns out, Handler has been attending AA meetings
and soon decides that police work is not for him so he hands in his
badge. But just as he has resigned, he receives some important news
from a crime lab buddy who informs him that a note Katie claimed she
had recently received from Embry was actually two years old.
Before the film's climax, Harrison pops up at the college graduation
and the audience learns that his disappearance had nothing to do with
foul play on Embry's part (Harrison simply lost his way while hiking in
a State Park). Fortunately for him, he already decided to walk away
from Katie. But former detective Handler is not so lucky. He already
had an intimate moment with the psycho college co-ed. Now that it's
finally dawned on him that Katie has been imagining all these
encounters with Embry, he tells her that he doesn't want to go away
with her as they previously had planned.
Abandon's conclusion takes place in an abandoned building near campus.
In a flashback we now see what actually happened: Embry got sick of
Katie and told her that he was planning to leave her so she knocked him
over the head with a cement block and he falls into a pool of water,
dead. The same fate awaits former Detective Handler: we see him
floating dead with a bashed head in the grimy pool of water along with
Embry's two year old skeleton.
Abandon has some excellent cinematography, capable acting and a
brooding score resulting in a nice, overall 'noirish' feel. But the
story does not develop organically. It was designed primarily to
showcase its 'twist ending'. Ultimately why should we really care about
Katie, the film's antagonist? Does she really stand out as a unique
'femme fatale'? Not really. Sure there are a few good scenes suggesting
that she's good at manipulating people (the job interview for example)
but there are way too many of those clich?d childhood flashbacks
suggesting parental abuse as well the aforementioned multiple 'Embry'
sightings which slow the story down considerably. The same goes for
Detective Handler, the protagonist, who never seems to be able to put
two and two together. It's hard to like a protagonist who is so passive
and pathetic.
After watching Abandon for the first time, I was forced to go back and
watch it again just to try and refresh my memory as to the important
plot points. So many of the scenes simply are not memorable; they tend
to blend into one another. Abandon's story feels more like an hour-long
TV episode stretched out to fulfill the requirements of a feature film.
Had it been done on TV, it would have been much more effective.
Summary of Abandon
A romantic comedy about a slick-talking con artist who loses his job and returns to his hometown georgia to collect an inheritance. As stipulated in the will he must recruit a gospel choir and lead it to success before he can cash in. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/04/2005 Starring: Katie Holmes Tony Goldwyn Run time: 98 minutes Rating: Pg13You can admire Abandon more for what it attempts, as opposed to what it actually achieves. Making his directorial debut after winning an Oscar? for scripting Traffic, screenwriter Stephen Gaghan emphasizes character dynamics and time-shifting structure over action and plotting, and the results are intelligent but oddly detached. As a recovering alcoholic detective (Benjamin Bratt) is assigned to reopen the two-year-old disappearance of an arrogant college student, we're drawn into the thoughts and emotions of the missing person's former girlfriend (Katie Holmes), whose behavior--especially when her volatile ex-boyfriend suddenly reappears--is key to the slowly unfolding mystery. Abandon is all about mood and atmosphere--shadowy gloom is dominant throughout--and viewers may grow impatient as the tissue-thin plot leads to an anticlimactic revelation. Still, Gaghan's sharp dialogue draws fine work from Holmes, and his supporting cast (especially Zooey Deschanel and Melanie Lynskey, as fellow students) adds much-needed energy on the fringes of this lugubrious psychological thriller. --Jeff Shannon
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