ign logo IGN.com | AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GameSpy | FilePlanet | TeamXbox | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

RT Bug Squash
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
Register for free site & special features! | Log In | What is RT?
                       
MOVIES / ON DVD / ABANDON
Abandon

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Abandon (2002)

17%
0%
23%
N/A
N/A
N/A
17 %
Reviews Counted: 105 Fresh: 18  Rotten:87 Average Rating: 4.3/10
 
Consensus: The plotline for Abandon is too disjointed and muddled to offer much in the way of thrills. The plotline for Abandon is too disjointed and muddled to offer much in the way of thrills. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Synopsis:
Oscar-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (TRAFFIC) makes his directorial debut with ABANDON, a dense, moody psychological thriller. Loosely based on the book ADAM'S FALL by Sean Desmond, ABANDON tells the troubled story of Katie (Katie Holmes), a college senior who's having a tough... [More]
Oscar-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (TRAFFIC) makes his directorial debut with ABANDON, a dense, moody psychological thriller. Loosely based on the book ADAM'S FALL by Sean Desmond, ABANDON tells the troubled story of Katie (Katie Holmes), a college senior who's having a tough time keeping herself focused. She is still struggling with memories of her boyfriend Embry (Charlie Hunnam), who disappeared two years earlier. Her past comes back to haunt her when recovering alcoholic detective Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt) is assigned to Embry's case. As Katie struggles to finish her thesis and secure a job with a prestigious firm in the city, she must contend with the reappearance of Embry, who seems intent on destroying her life. Gaghan's stylish picture, shot by acclaimed cinematographer Matthew Libatique, owes an obvious debt to classic thrillers from the 1970s (he even goes so far as to have Holmes sing a rendition of the theme to ROSEMARY'S BABY, ala Roman Polanski and his starlet, Mia Farrow). Zooey Deschanel (MUMFORD, THE GOOD GIRL) delivers yet another scene-stealing performance as Katie's snide, sarcastic friend. The film dwells in the murky territory between realistic college drama and abstract psychological thriller, making it an unsettling and suspenseful experience. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Katie Holmes, Charlie Hunnam, Benjamin Bratt, Zooey Deschanel, Melanie Lynskey

Director: Stephen Gaghan
Screenwriter: Stephen Gaghan
Director: Edward Zwick
Producer: Lynda Obst, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum
Composer: Clint Mansell

DVD Info

Release:

Jun 3, 2004

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Stephen Gaghan - Writer/Director, Matthew Libatique - Cinematographer
  • Trailers
  • Featurette - 1. Making Of
  • Deleted & Extended Scenes with Director's Commentary

Interactive Features:

  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Selection

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
Ratings Image

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

Full Review | Comment
01/04/07 03:17 AM
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image

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

Full Review | Comment
06/23/04 10:10 AM
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Ratings Image

Lacked an emotionally endearing story.

Full Review | Comment
06/21/04 05:45 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

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

Full Review | Comment
01/06/04 05:39 PM
Greg Maki
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
Ratings Image

O ritmo lento e o final previsível (e absurdo) comprometem o filme irremediavelmente.

| Comment
11/16/03 07:57 PM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review | Comment
06/27/03 12:12 AM
Nick Rogers
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)
Ratings Image

Abandon is a damn good movie.

Full Review | Comment
03/27/03 01:19 AM
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central
Ratings Image

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

Full Review | Comment
03/21/03 10:48 PM
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal
Ratings Image

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

Full Review | Comment
02/08/03 08:17 AM
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online
Ratings Image

Meandering and glacially paced, and often just plain dull.

Full Review | Comment
01/08/03 01:00 PM
Scott Von Doviak
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Ratings Image

[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.

Full Review | Comment
12/18/02 08:56 PM
Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
12/02/02 08:17 AM
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Ratings Image

Don't bother seeing Abandon. Within half an hour of sitting down, you'll want to perpetrate the nominal act on the theatre itself.

Full Review | Comment
11/24/02 08:59 AM
Matt Easterbrook
Matt's Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

Easily the most manipulative thriller since Brian De Palma retired to a career of spectacular irrelevance. That’s why it’s so effective — and fiendishly satisfying.

Full Review | Comment
10/28/02 04:19 PM
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)
Ratings Image

More often than not, the film lapses into basic thriller tricks.

Full Review | Comment
10/27/02 08:16 AM
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
10/27/02 08:16 AM
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image

Stephen Gaghan’s “Abandon” might be perhaps the most substandard, unanimously mind-numbing feature of the year. It’s characters – boring, it’s storyline – non-existent, and it’s performances – trite

Full Review | Comment
10/26/02 08:16 AM
Clint Morris
Moviehole
Ratings Image

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

Full Review | Comment
10/25/02 04:38 PM
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Ratings Image

[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.

Full Review | Comment
10/25/02 04:24 PM
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee
Ratings Image

“Abandon” will leave you wanting to abandon the theater.

Full Review | Comment
10/24/02 05:03 PM
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Broomfield Enterprise
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6
See More Topics...

Related Forums

Abadon review -- has acting, cinematography, lacks one thing....
by: lucky_dog 10/18/02


the movie does'nt look that bad
by: Ivy Killa 10/2/02


News on casting.
by: Borovnia30 6/4/01


En tournage
by: Tommy 5/31/01


Filming Status
by: Feeble Zeeble 5/9/01
all

Pictures

Around the Network

• Abandon at Rotten Tomatoes
• Abandon at IGN
• Abandon at AskMen
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive

By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.