When I heard the terrific writer of "TRAFFIC" and "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT," Stephen Gaghan, was finally going to direct a movie he'd adapted himself, it was hard not to be excited!  "TRAFFIC" was such a great script, intelligent, entertaining, and thought-provoking!  "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT," in spite of some predictability, still had great dialogue and a wonderful narrative structure.  "ABANDON" is a huge letdown. And I mean "HEAVEN'S GATE" huge!

Based (loosely) on a novel, "Adam's Fall," Gaghan admits to have been working on the script, making numerous revisions all the way up to production, and that's not a good omen.

Katie Holmes stars as Katie, a beautiful college senior, seeming to be much more mature than most of her colleagues.  Through heavy-handed and intrusive flashbacks, we learn she was "abandoned" by her father as a small child.  It's obviously caused some emotional trauma for her, as the audience is burdened with these flashbacks more than once.  Benjamin Bratt plays a detective trying to work out issues of his own, including alcoholism, and he's been given what may be a new lease on life, with a weird missing persons case.  A young genius, Embry Larkin has just vanished, without a trace.  It's up to the detective to find out if this mysterious young man is intentionally hiding or a victim of foul play.  Embry just happens to have been dating Katie, and his disappearance seems to have some connection to her.

While it borders on being exploitive, the romance that develops between the two, is the best and most convincing aspect of the film. Unfortunately the character development of Embry is horrible, and the fact that he's been given the personality traits of Jim Morrison, makes him an extremely annoying and unsympathetic character.  Very early, one begins to question Katie's sanity for even being attracted to Embry in the first place. 

PARAMOUNT has preserved the film's 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with 16:9 enhancement.  It's a terrific looking transfer.  The film has a dark, film-noir look to it, so colors are intentionally restrained.  The image is slick looking and contrast is flawless, allowing for exquisite detail in all of the darkest scenes. Fleshtones appear natural throughout.     

PARAMOUNT has presented a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. The film's eerie score stands out, and is boosted through all speakers.  There are ample surround and directional effects, all adding to the creation of a scary, disturbing environment, sometimes making up for the film's annoyances. Dialogue is always intelligible and free from distortion. 

PARAMOUNT has provided some decent supplements here.

Gaghan and the film's cinematographer lend a commentary.  It's a good commentary, and Gaghan is obviously much smarter than one could judge by the film.  The two discuss various shots, and how certain scenes were achieved, but there's not enough said about the film's themes and characters, or why he's made some huge changes from the original source material for his screenplay. It also would've been a lot more fun to have Bratt and Holmes on board.

A featurette, "A LOOK AT THE DARK SIDE: THE MAKING OF ABANDON," is highly entertaining, offering interviews much more insightful than the running commentary.  Gaghan and other members of the cast are featured, offering their reasons for becoming attracted to the film. 

We always love a "deleted scenes" section, and there are 6 here!  They're all short, but two are kind of interesting.  All are in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, but without 16:9 enhancement.  Gaghan also provides an optional commentary to them.

There are two trailers for the film, as well as one for "THE FOUR FEATHERS."