Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Python Hyena Abandon (2002): Dir: Stephen Gaghan / Cast: Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, Charlie Hunnan, Zooey Deschanel, Fred Ward: Effective thriller that concentrates on the absence of mind and the ability to function. Katie Holmes is about to enter the corporate world when a detective contacts her regarding a missing boyfriend. The victim taught music but was also known for his daredevil behavior. Holmes begins to sense his presence, which plays tricks on her emotions. Intriguing plot with several twists but a wayward conclusion. Directed by Stephen Gaghan who gradually provides crucial information that works well until elements of the third act come undone into formula writing. Holmes does well as the lead playing a woman trying to figure out what is real and what is not. The ending presents one of those villain prospering themes that seem common in these films. Charlie Hunnan as the missing boyfriend isn't easy to figure out but he steals his moments. Benjamin Bratt as the detective is there to sleep with Holmes. This is just in case female viewers become bored and need manipulated. Zooey Deschanel plays a sorority sister and the role is wooden. The teenage appeal of the film works against it but it is well made technically with a message that seems real enough. The Film addresses power and risking anything without abandoning self. Score: 7 / 10

TedMichaelMor Warning, this review reveals the outcome. Please do not read it if you have not seen this movie. This film is much better than the reviews indicate but one has to deal with a subtle conclusion. We seem to have trouble with ambiguity in film narratives. Further, the point-of-view at the end of the film is like that of a modernist novel. I appreciate criticisms of "Abandon" but I think it deserves to be what it is."Abandon" never lacks focus. If you follow closely, you read a coherent narrative. Katie Holmes' performance is the core of the narrative but fine production qualities, direction, and attention to details are also important. There are lapses, perhaps, though I will have to watch it again to know this. This is a quick review. The film deserves better.The clue is to hide as the victim even if you are not.

Turfseer 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 clichéd 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.

Michael Casagrande This is not a great film, but a good one. The near uniqueness of the ending alone qualifies it as such - murderers (even crazy ones) are almost always caught. Katie Holmes is not, by the movie's end.Her performance is really quite good. This is a role I have never seen her in, and didn't expect. Yet she is quite believable.Other comments posted about the greater accuracy of the college milieu are right on point. Katie's performance in the McKinsey interview was spot on. One especially witty comment, when Katie responds to her friend's politically correct suggestion that they join a protest against globalization ("there's as much chance of stopping that as stopping" the sun in its tracks,) deserves special mention.Yes, the film is slow-paced, but it should be, given the unusual nature of the events described. The one moment of action, when Katie sends Bratt to a watery grave, is surprising, as one expects Bratt to solve the mystery and collar Katie, given his Law and Order background.