Gore! Heavy metal! Gratuitous sex! What else would you expect from a Katie Holmes/Benjamin Bratt flick? I never imagined Abandon would be driven instead by the measured direction of Stephen Gaghan.
Although we soon learn that Katie Burke (Holmes) is a senior at an elite university and that troubled detective Wade Handler (Bratt) is investigating the disappearance of her ex-boyfriend (Charlie Hunnan), we don't really understand what the movie is about until near its conclusion. As the plot unfolds at an almost maddeningly slow pace, Gaghan somehow holds it all together, finally hitting us with a smart and satisfying twist ending just before our patience is exhausted.
At first Holmes plays her tiresome Joey Potter routine, with a perpetual smirk and all-too-scripted sarcasm. But as the movie progresses, she relaxes into the role, beautifully displaying Burke's vulnerability and insecurity. Ignore the sometimes uneven plot. Forget the contrived college dorm and grating party scenes. Lose yourself instead in the complexity and ambiguity of Katie Burke-the girl who has everything, who has every guy falling all over her and yet scratches "YOU HAVE NO GRACE" into her psychology notebook.
The enthralling character development in Abandon-one of the most intelligent films to come out of the teen genre in years-makes it well worth your two hours.
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