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MOVIES / ON DVD / ABANDON
Abandon

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Abandon (2002)

17%
24%
23%
N/A
N/A
N/A
17 %
Reviews Counted: 105 Fresh: 18  Rotten:87 Average Rating: 4.3/10
 
Consensus: The plotline for Abandon is too disjointed and muddled to offer much in the way of thrills.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Theatrical Release: Oct 18, 2002 Wide

Box Office: $10,684,049

Synopsis: Oscar-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (TRAFFIC) makes his directorial debut with ABANDON, a dense, moody psychological thriller. Loosely based on the book ADAM'S FALL by Sean Desmond, ABANDON tells the troubled story of Katie (Katie Holmes), a college senior who's having a tough... Oscar-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (TRAFFIC) makes his directorial debut with ABANDON, a dense, moody psychological thriller. Loosely based on the book ADAM'S FALL by Sean Desmond, ABANDON tells the troubled story of Katie (Katie Holmes), a college senior who's having a tough time keeping herself focused. She is still struggling with memories of her boyfriend Embry (Charlie Hunnam), who disappeared two years earlier. Her past comes back to haunt her when recovering alcoholic detective Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt) is assigned to Embry's case. As Katie struggles to finish her thesis and secure a job with a prestigious firm in the city, she must contend with the reappearance of Embry, who seems intent on destroying her life. Gaghan's stylish picture, shot by acclaimed cinematographer Matthew Libatique, owes an obvious debt to classic thrillers from the 1970s (he even goes so far as to have Holmes sing a rendition of the theme to ROSEMARY'S BABY, ala Roman Polanski and his starlet, Mia Farrow). Zooey Deschanel (MUMFORD, THE GOOD GIRL) delivers yet another scene-stealing performance as Katie's snide, sarcastic friend. The film dwells in the murky territory between realistic college drama and abstract psychological thriller, making it an unsettling and suspenseful experience. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Katie Holmes, Charlie Hunnam, Benjamin Bratt, Zooey Deschanel, Melanie Lynskey

Director: Stephen Gaghan
Screenwriter: Stephen Gaghan
Director: Edward Zwick
Producer: Lynda Obst, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum
Composer: Clint Mansell

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 18, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Stephen Gaghan - Writer/Director, Matthew Libatique - Cinematographer
  • Trailers
  • Featurette - 1. Making Of
  • Deleted & Extended Scenes with Director's Commentary

Interactive Features:

  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Selection

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image
1.5/4

The film's final twist is admittedly quite effective, though it doesn't even remotely justify the interminable build-up leading into it.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/04/07
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image
2/4

Might have been titled Fatal Attraction -- The College Years.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/23/04
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Ratings Image
C+

Lacked an emotionally endearing story.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/21/04
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
3/4

The twist ending ... becomes discernible around the midway point, but Gaghan makes up for it ...

Full Review | comment Comment
01/06/04
Greg Maki
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
Ratings Image
2/5

O ritmo lento e o final previsível (e absurdo) comprometem o filme irremediavelmente.

comment Comment
11/16/03
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image
3/4

In the end, the film is less the cheap thriller you’d expect than it is a fairly revealing study of its two main characters — damaged-goods people whose orbits will inevitably and dangerously collide.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/27/03
Nick Rogers
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Abandon is a damn good movie.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/27/03
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central
Ratings Image
C

Nothing is more frustrating than a movie that banks on a twist ending that it telegraphs 30 minutes before climax.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/21/03
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal
Ratings Image
4/5

For what I suppose must be classified as a 'teen thriller,' this film has a surprising amount of substance.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/08/03
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online
Ratings Image
N/A

Meandering and glacially paced, and often just plain dull.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/08/03
Scott Von Doviak
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Ratings Image
2/4

[Its] failure becomes most obvious in retrospect, when the realization dawns that the most affecting, inventive, and honest moments of the film were those that hewed most closely to the original text.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/18/02
Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com
Ratings Image
1/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/02/02
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Ratings Image
2/5

Don't bother seeing Abandon. Within half an hour of sitting down, you'll want to perpetrate the nominal act on the theatre itself.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/24/02
Matt Easterbrook
Matt's Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
3/4

Easily the most manipulative thriller since Brian De Palma retired to a career of spectacular irrelevance. That’s why it’s so effective — and fiendishly satisfying.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/28/02
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)
Ratings Image
N/A

More often than not, the film lapses into basic thriller tricks.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/27/02
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
Ratings Image
1.5/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
10/27/02
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
2/5

Stephen Gaghan’s “Abandon” might be perhaps the most substandard, unanimously mind-numbing feature of the year. It’s characters – boring, it’s storyline – non-existent, and it’s performances – trite

Full Review | comment Comment
10/26/02
Clint Morris
Moviehole
Ratings Image
1/4

It's a bad sign in a thriller when you instantly know whodunit.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/02
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3.5/4

[Gaghan] successfully illustrates that if a filmmaker is capable and intelligent -- and assumes that his audience is the same -- he can transcend the limitations of even so lowly a genre.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/02
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee
Ratings Image
N/A

“Abandon” will leave you wanting to abandon the theater.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/24/02
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Broomfield Enterprise
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