Abandon (2002)

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:

The screenplay was suggested by the book "Adam's Fall" by Sean Desmond.

Goofs:

Continuity: Katie is studying in the library. She is writing with a pencil, and starts to nod off. She falls asleep for a second, and we see and hear her pencil drop onto her notebook, but in the next shot she is holding her pencil upright.

Quotes:

Embry Larkin: You have no grace.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

a very average movie

Abandon is a very average movie. It's nothing that's going to blow the viewer away, but it's not a terrible movie either. Katie Holmes does a good job playing Katie Burke a student nearing the end of college, trying to get her thesis done and land a good job. The movie focuses on the investigation by Wade Handler (Bratt) into the disappearance of Katie's boyfriend two years earlier. Although the film had some good twists and wasn't really predictable, most of the characters other than Katie Burke came off as kind of flat and boring. Embry Larkin played by Charlie Hunnam as Katie's ex-boyfriend was made out to be a wonderful, highly talented genius, but he didn't seem anything special to me. I didn't think Wade Handler, the police officer investigating the disappearance, came across as an very interesting character either. Overall, I'd say that this is an all right movie, but I'd only watch it if nothing else better was available.