DVD Reviews

Abandoned (Blu-Ray)

Abandoned marks one of the final films completed by actress Brittany Murphy (8 Mile, Don’t Say A Word, Clueless), who tragically passed away late last year at the young age of 32.  Since appearing in 2005’s Sin City, Murphy had been somewhat absent from any high-profile roles and her career tailed into several straight-to-video films before her death, this one included.  Here she stars as Mary, a high-powered career woman who brings her new boyfriend (Dean Cain from TV’s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman) to the hospital for minor patient surgery.  Once the wait becomes too long, she soon discovers he’s mysteriously vanished, and no one, not her friends or the medical staff have any proof he ever existed.

The premise for Abandoned isn’t half-bad and the mystery itself is the only reason to even stick with the movie after the first five minutes, if you can get past the abundance of flaws the movie possesses in both style and substance.  From a technical standpoint, Abandoned is amateur hour.  It comes off as a well-polished student film, complete with untimely editing and weak production value.  The acting gets from bad to worse quickly, as Murphy is a long-way off from performances she’s given in the past.  The supporting cast doesn’t help matters either, as Cain, Mimi Rogers (Lost In Space), and Peter Bogdanovich (TV’s The Soprano's) seem to be here to earn a paycheck.

The story takes some bizarre twists and turns as it’s revealed that her boyfriend is indeed kidnapped, and she’s trying to be extorted into paying money for his release.  Then the master plan is unraveled that the boyfriend and the abductors are con artists working together.  If this film had more pedigree it might have been good, but as it stands the movie gets more ridiculous as it goes on.  Here’s what’s even more befuddling about this Blu-ray edition: the picture quality is highly impressive!  Abandoned is a bad movie, backed up with an incredible digital transfer.  Picture quality is sharp, detailed, and extremely well balanced on levels.  There were some minor instances of grain, but nothing fundamental.  The quality is so good that you’ll be thrown at how much make-up Murphy has on her face (to the point where she looks almost like a clown!).

The sound isn’t as defined, a generic digital 5.1 track is applied that works well enough but you’ll quickly notice that much of the original recorded audio is used for the scenes (giving an indication of how little Abandoned went through any sound post-production).  Another strike against the disc is that there are no special features to report on, no commentaries or any additional footage, a shame considering this piece is potentially Murphy’s final full performance to speak of.

Abandoned is a sad case and it’s tough to swallow that Murphy’s career is capped with the likes of this dud.  She may never have achieved a superstar status, but she did accomplish a great run of performances starting with her breakout comedic appearance in Clueless, to grittier fare in Don’t Say A Word, Girl Interrupted, and 8 Mile alongside Eminem.  Her life and career seemed to have burned out before either had reached their potential.  In the end, you can do her memory justice by not watching this and instead returning to some of her more memorable roles.

Review By Ryan Young