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Abandon (2002)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Reviews Counted: 109
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 91

The plotline for Abandon is too disjointed and muddled to offer much in the way of thrills.

Average Rating: 4.1/10
Critic Reviews: 26
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 20

The plotline for Abandon is too disjointed and muddled to offer much in the way of thrills.

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Average Rating: 2.7/5
User Ratings: 12,511

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Movie Info

A young woman is faced with the disturbing reemergence of a man she once loved in this psychological thriller. Embry Langan (Charlie Hunnam) was a wealthy but reckless student at an exclusive private college until he mysteriously vanished, with airline tickets to Europe left unused and plenty of money still in the bank. Two years later, Katie Burke (Katie Holmes), Embry's girlfriend, is still dealing with his disappearance as she goes into the home stretch of her college career. With exams, a

PG-13, 1 hr. 39 min.

Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Stephen Gaghan

Written By: Stephen Gaghan

In Theaters: Oct 18, 2002 Wide

On DVD: Mar 18, 2003

Box Office:$10.7M

Paramount Pictures

Abandon Trailer & Photos

More Photos (8)

Cast

Katie Holmes
Katie Burke
Benjamin Bratt
Detective Wade Handler
Charlie Hunnam
Embry Langan
Zooey Deschanel
Samantha Harper
Gabriel Mann
Harrison Hobart
Gabrielle Union
Amanda Luttrell
Mark Feuerstein
Robert Hanson
Melanie Lynskey
Mousy Julie
Will McCormack
August
Philip Bosco
Professor Jergensen
Tony Goldwyn
Dr. David Schaffer
Fred Ward
Lt. Bill Stayton
Jack Warden

Critic Reviews for Abandon

All Critics (115) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (92) | DVD (13)

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

October 25, 2002 Comment

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

[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.

October 25, 2002 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee

| Comment

Joe Baltake

Sacramento Bee

Top Critic

Hardly a nuanced portrait of a young woman's breakdown, the film nevertheless works up a few scares.

October 22, 2002 Full Review Source: Village Voice

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Ed Park

Village Voice

Top Critic

It's light on the chills and heavy on the atmospheric weirdness, and there are moments of jaw-droppingly odd behavior -- yet I found it weirdly appealing.

October 21, 2002 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper

| Comment

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

Pic's structure and last-minute disclosures entirely betray any personal investment the viewer has made in this low-key yarn, which will cause audiences to feel ambushed and sullied at fadeout.

October 18, 2002 Full Review Source: Variety

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Todd McCarthy

Variety

Top Critic

The title helpfully offers the most succinct review of it you'll read anywhere.

October 18, 2002 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

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Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

It really is almost impressive how bad this is.

September 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

A flimsy and tedious thriller.

January 2, 2009 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

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

January 4, 2007 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

| Comment

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

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

June 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

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Judith Egerton

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

Lacked an emotionally endearing story.

June 21, 2004 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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

January 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

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Greg Maki

Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

O ritmo lento e o final previs�vel (e absurdo) comprometem o filme irremediavelmente.

November 16, 2003 Comment

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

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.

June 27, 2003 Full Review | Comment

Nick Rogers

State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) Source: State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

Abandon is a damn good movie.

March 27, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

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Bill Chambers

Film Freak Central

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

March 21, 2003 Comment

Forrest Hartman

Reno Gazette-Journal Source: Reno Gazette-Journal

The biggest problem with Abandon is that all of the buildup ... is seriously boring, disjointed, unfocused, and not interesting in the least.

March 20, 2003 Full Review Source: IGN DVD

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Jeremy Conrad

IGN DVD

Certainly not a keeper but the good news is that now you can quickly fast-forward to the best parts in the film: every scene with Melanie Lynskey as Creepy Library Girl.

March 13, 2003 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

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

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online

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John R. McEwen

Film Quips Online

Meandering and glacially paced, and often just plain dull.

January 8, 2003 Comment

Scott Von Doviak

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

[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.

December 18, 2002 Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com

| Comment

Jeremy Heilman

MovieMartyr.com

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Abandon

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Really thought I had reviewed this film some time ago. This film didn't do much for me. Maybe it was the acting of Benjamin Bratt, maybe it was the charater he played, just didn't enjoy this film and that is something rare for me. A 2 star and hope never to watch again.

July 19, 2011

Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

Before I start, I know I am in the minority here. In fact, I have been defending this movie for years. After all, "Abandon" came out in 2002 and it's now 2011, and after almost 10 years I still keep coming back to this film, regardless of it's popular dislike. Written and directed by Stephen Gagan (Oscar winning scribe

February 5, 2011