Abandoned

Abandoned Review

Abandoned Feature

ABANDONED (DVD MOVIE)

Abandoned Overview

Mary Walsh delivers boyfriend Kevin to a hospital for routine outpatient surgery. But when Mary returns to take him home, he's mysteriously vanished. An administrator can find no record of him, and a police search turns up nothing. Increasingly frantic, Mary's taken to staff psychiatrist Dr. Bensley, who pronounces her unstable. Now she must not only find her missing boyfriend, but prove her own sanity as well. When a stranger informs her he knows Kevin's whereabouts and demands a billion ransom, she has one hour to comply and her boyfriend's life hangs in the balance. Forced to embezzle the money from the bank where she works, Mary soon discovers the shocking truth behind the disappearance. Now time is running out and she must take matters into her own hands to save herself.

Abandoned Specifications

Though at times an agreeable thriller, Abandoned will sadly gain notoriety as the final film credit for its lead, actress Brittany Murphy, who died prior to its home video release, though this unfortunate circumstance may lead some viewers to seek out the film. What they'll find is an unremarkable bit of suspense involving Murphy's search for her boyfriend (Dean Cain), who appears to vanish from the face of the earth after checking into a hospital for routine knee surgery. Old pros Mimi Rogers and Peter Bogdanovich pull out the stops to suggest that Murphy is delusional, while detective Jay Pickett (a veteran of director Michael Feifer's lengthy string of low-budget serial killer biopics) and cult favorite Tim Thomerson offer support; the result has its moments, most notably in a chase through the bowels of the hospital, but never rises above the level of made-for-TV or direct-to-video movie. Murphy is fine, though the role is fairly glum and keeps her from displaying her trademark sparkle; completists who wish to see her entire CV are most likely to be the film's core audience. The DVD includes the original trailer. --Paul Gaita