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A girl struggling with trying to juggle classes, homework, finding a job, and dealing with an ex-boyfriend that will not leave her alone sounds like something us college students can identify with. If Abandon had been done right, it would be a great vehicle to show the trials and tribulations of a college senior. Instead, it turned out to be something that killed two hours of my life.
Katie (played by Katie Holmes) is a senior in college. When she was a sophomore, she met a dynamic guy named Embry who swept her off her feet and became the love of her life. One night, after opening a play he had written, he disappeared without a trace.
Fast forward to the present. Embry is classified as a missing person and the case is given to a cop (Benjamin Bratt) who is back on the job after recovering from alcoholism. He starts asking questions around campus and finds out that Katie dated Embry. Soon afterward, Embry comes back, but only speaks to Katie. She keeps trying to find out what he is doing there, where he has been, and what he wants, all the while trying to help the cop close the missing persons case.
I was not overly impressed with Abandon. My first complaint is that it is not what the commercials make it out to be. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it was. The commercials promise a thriller about a boyfriend coming back to haunt his ex. What audiences get instead is a case study of a girl dealing with problems during her senior year.
Under certain circumstances, this could be a great movie. Too bad it didn’t work out this time. The acting in the movie was mediocre at best. Bratt was unimpressive as a cop struggling with overcoming alcoholism. And, I have never been a fan of Katie Holmes; this movie definitely did not change my opinion. There was little depth to her character, even though the plot line calls for it. A movie centered around the struggles of one person should cast someone who can handle the job.
Abandon even failed on the thriller level. I spent more time wondering why this girl was so stupid to walk through dark places at night than I did clutching the arm rests in fright. Too many parts of the movie got predictable and that takes all the fun out of a thriller.
The one saving grace to the movie was the ending. I will not say more about it because I don’t like ruining things for people. Ten minutes at the end of a movie does not save it from being bad. If you have any interest in seeing this movie, I would wait until it comes out on the Bentley Channel; at least then you can change the channel.
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