Abandon

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

The biggest surprise may be what the filmmaker doesn't show; he withholds a big dramatic payoff, so the audience must fill in the blanks.

Entertainment Weekly Bruce Fretts

Sometimes, typecasting works: Holmes and Bratt settle comfortably into their roles, and the movie proves a competently made, mildly diverting collegiate thriller -- at least until its all-too-predictable ''twist'' ending.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ellen A. Kim

Holmes ably handles the starring role, but the handsome Bratt doesn't have enough material to cement his film career. The supporting cast is strong.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A moody, effective thriller for about 80 percent of the way, and then our hands close on air. If you walk out before the ending, you'll think it's better than it is.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Has the integrity of good dialogue and enough of a writer's preserved craftiness to make it a worthwhile date-night attraction.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Abandon tags Katie Holmes as a talented actor with surprising range and vast, untapped potential - so much, in fact, that watching her, one can almost overlook the film's many flaws. Almost.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Don't abandon Abandon. In the movies' long weekly line-up, it stands apart -- innocent of banality, and guilty of nothing more damning than intelligent effort that falls a tad short.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Too much of this well-acted but dangerously slow thriller feels like a preamble to a bigger, more complicated story, one that never materializes.

San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Curiel

A disjointed movie with uneven acting and too many scenes that defy belief.

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

Aiming to elicit a last-minute shiver from the audience, Gaghan is likely to get instead a mood-destroying giggle.

Village Voice Ed Park

Hardly a nuanced portrait of a young woman's breakdown, the film nevertheless works up a few scares, particularly a tense call-number hunt in the library stacks.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Gaghan shows promise as a director, but Abandon leaves a lot of room for improvement.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

A thriller wrapped in heavy-duty gauze to muffle the chills.

TV Guide Ken Fox

The story's rhythm is so bogged down in unnecessary characterization that the film can hardly breathe.

USA Today Mike Clark

Holmes, of Dawson's Creek, will be up the creek if she can't avoid movies like this. And so will you if you see it.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Abandon is this CLOSE to being good, juicy, bad-movie fun.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

With the flat characters and lifeless performances, it's a wonder that anyone in the audience can stay awake all the way through this dull and dreary production.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Has a few pleasing stylistic flourishes and a potentially Hitchcockian plot, but the writing and rhythm are so off that when the final "shocker" arrives, we have seen it coming or have abandoned caring.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A trite psychological thriller -- all buildup and no payoff, a mystery that essentially offers only two alternative solutions, which diminishes the element of surprise and strings the viewer along way past caring which possibility proves to be true.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Crossing "A Beautiful Mind" with "Sex Kittens Go to College," first-time director Stephen Gaghan (he wrote Traffic) causes a head-on collision.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Passably interesting psychological study of emotionally wounded characters until it commits dramatic suicide by showing its true colors as a tricked-up "Fatal Attraction" wannabe.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

What hath "The Sixth Sense" wrought? These days, it seems as if every psychological thriller has a surprise finish.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

This alleged thriller, which might be described as "'Gaslight' Goes to College," is one of the most incoherent features in recent memory.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Stephen Gaghan, who scripted this turkey, landed in the director's chair after Edward Zwick (Glory) bailed out, and you can almost smell the flop sweat.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

A confusing mishmash.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Consider the title your best advice.