Plot: What’s it about?
Mary (Brittany Murphy) hasn’t always great luck with men, but she thinks her current boyfriend Kevin (Dean Cain) might be the one she’s waited for. He is scheduled for a routine operation on his knee, so the couple drives to the hospital and Mary assumes it will be a short visit. She drops him off, checks in on him in his room, then goes to get some coffee. The surgery is only supposed to be a brief one, so she checks in at the nurse’s station. Mary is confused when not only is he not in recovery, but the hospital has no record of Kevin or his procedure. She begins to panic even more when the hospital director and a police detective are unable to find any trace of him either. When her past mental illness issues arise, the hospital staff suspects she is in the middle of an episode. But is Mary just suffering a delusion, or is there a darker force at work?
The premise here is not an original one, but there’s always hope for a fresh take or twist. Sadly, Abandoned is content to be a standard, run of the mill type movie. I could have forgiven the weak premise and execution somewhat if the conclusion was worth the ride, but that isn’t the case. In truth, the end twist is one of the lamest I’ve seen in a long while and reminded me of a movie-of-the-week climax. This would prove to be Brittany Murphy’s final film and while her resume was by no means remarkable, its a shame her final role was this one. She performs decently, but seems to be phoning in her effort and coupled with the wafer-thin writing, that’s a recipe for mediocrity. Dean Cain is simply atrocious, he stunk up the screen with a fiercely horrendous portrayal here. I couldn’t find much at all to like about Abandoned. I am always open to good thrillers, especially ones with a paranoid vibe, but this one is better left alone.
Video: How does it look?
Abandoned is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a rock solid visual effort, with no real issues to contend with. I will say that I wasn’t floored by the depth or detail, but it looks quite good. The image shows natural colors, smooth contrast, and detail that is a nice improvement over the DVD. So not an eye popping transfer, but one that treats the material well and offers a marked enhancement over other editions.
Audio: How does it sound?
A PCM 5.1 soundtrack is present, but rarely provides more than a bare bones presentation. The tense mood would have been enhanced by suitable sound design, but little effort seems to have gone into that here. The dialogue sounds fine, but overall atmosphere is bland and unremarkable. Even small touches could have added some depth to the surroundings, but instead this settles for being as basic as they come. This disc also includes a Dolby Digital 5.1 option, as well as English and Spanish subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the film’s theatrical trailer.
