Abandon (2002)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Stephen Gaghan

Writer (WGA):

Stephen Gaghan (written by)

Release Date:

18 October 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Watch who you leave behind.

Plot:

A senior at an elite college, already under severe pressure to complete her thesis and land a prestigious job...

Plot Keywords:

Thesis | Detective | College | Alcoholic Relapse | Flashback Sequence

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Katie Holmes	...	Katie Burke
Benjamin Bratt	...	Wade Handler
Charlie Hunnam	...	Embry Larkin
Zooey Deschanel	...	Samantha Harper
Fred Ward	...	Lieutenant Bill Stayton
Mark Feuerstein	...	Robert Hanson
Melanie Lynskey	...	Mousy Julie (as Melanie Jayne Lynskey)
Philip Bosco	...	Professor Jergensen
Gabriel Mann	...	Harrison Hobart
Will McCormack	...	August
Gabrielle Union	...	Amanda Luttrell
Greg Kramer	...	Andre
Gillian Ferrabee	...	Susan
Barry Julien	...	Ted
Tony Goldwyn	...	Dr. David Schaffer

Also Known As:

Abandoned (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for drug and alcohol content, sexuality, some violence and language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (MiniDV) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:16 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Finland:K-15 | Iceland:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39097)

Filming Locations:

McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Stephen Gaghan wrote the part of Katie Burke with Katie Holmes in mind.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the AA meeting, Detective Handler says, "I'm Wade Handler; I'm a cop." Last names are not given at AA meetings, to preserve the anonymity of those present.

Quotes:

Samantha Harper: You're thinking about the cop, aren't you?
Katie Burke: Maybe.
Samantha Harper: Okay, visualize this with me. You're down in New York consulting with Lou Gerstner or the head of GE telling them how to buy South American countries but on the weekends, you fly back up here to hang out with the cop, do cop things, maybe go to cop mixers...
Katie Burke: I like the cop.
Samantha Harper: Yeah, um, I can see that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Trick endings...

This movie isn't as bad as the worst reviews have it, and not as good as the best reviews. It muddles through on mediocrity, and a plot twist.

Here's the good news; it's not a completely out there plot twist. If you watch it knowing it's coming, you start to understand some parts of the movie better. It's not a cut and paste ending that leaves you scratching your head.

Bad news; it's still not very good.

The movie captures two things pretty well. One, the drive and ambition it takes to try to get out of college in the top ten, and two, the college life. Oh, and three, but that's a spoiler.

I watched Sixth Sense again, once I knew the ending. And you know what? It had a whole other story to tell, different from the narrative you thought you had been seeing the first time. Every scene, every line, was laden with subtext.

There's some of that in this movie, but not as much, frankly. It doesn't work as well. The first time, it's tolerable. And if you're wondering now 'will I care about the characters,' you won't. And you shouldn't.

Everything about this movie feels a little 'film-school,' if you know what I mean. Ultimately, watchable, but not great.