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

I hadn't even heard of this film, until a friend gave it to me. From the plot's outline of the back of the case it sounded alright, but I was thinking that I wouldn't get around to it for awhile. However something kept bugging me that eventually I made a decision for it to be the next film I would watch. As it is, 'Abandon' was an adequately sedate and isolated mystery drama with a compellingly patterned (and very teasing) plot and outstanding lead performance by no other than Katie Holmes… yeah I had one of my eyebrows raised, but she was surprisingly convincing in her turn. Also she was backed up by a vibrant Zooey Deschanel, a potently sullen Benjamin Bratt and an intensely uneasy Charlie Hunnam. Fred Ward would also appear in nothing more than a cameo role.Writer / director Stephen Gaghan does a professionally stylized and polished job (especially the first-rate cinematography) in what is a solid, if unspectacular psychological driven story. The perceptive narrative (with an alienating script) moves in between present time and flashbacks to fully grasp what's happening in this puzzling set-up. Katie Burke is feeling the pressure to finish her thesis at a highly prestigious university and now a premier consulting firm has a real keen eye on her. However what's really plaguing her mind is that of her freshman romance two years earlier with Embry, and that of his strange disappearance. Detective Wade Handler (a recovering alcoholic) takes on the case, and begins asking questions and Katie comes under his eye. Then out of the blue Embry begins popping up every now and again, to somewhat make Katie's life even more hectic.Sounds like nothing terribly new, and it isn't. However it's hard-working and well-executed, even though it demonstrates a shallow touch and feels like its doing nothing more than letting time tick by to only crash upon its big striking revelation. I don't think there are many possibilities to piece together or to truly throw you off track, despite its ditches to bring out the aspect of there being more going on under the surface. There's something there that keeps you watching, as it's slowly tailored (deliberately) with a somber air cooking up a sterile look with a metallic glimmer to the imagery. Despite its transfixing quality, it can get flabby but there's a certain creepy energy within and the hauntingly soft score accommodates the moody atmospherics of the dependable location settings.A conventional, but interesting mystery-drama.

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.

Katie Holmes, (Katie Burke), "First Daughter",'04, is very attractive and has a determination to become a successful college student. However, she is very upset about a former boyfriend who is missing and was a brilliant composer whose name was, Charlie Hummam,(Embry Larkin),"Hooligans",'05. Benjamin Bratt,(Wade Handler),"The Great Raid",'05 plays the role of a detective who tries to assist Katie Burke in finding her lost boyfriend and gets deeply involved in trying to solve this case. Wade Handler also has had a troubled career as a police officer and he has some very dark secrets he is trying to over come. This story has plenty of flashbacks and the story will keep you on a so called Merry-go-Round of a time watching this film. Good entertainment and a crazy ending.