Ohne jede Spur

This was Brittany Murphy's last film, she's quite elegant and captivating on the screen (I enjoyed her voice work on King of the Hill as well). It's a very weak movie overall; aside from Murphy and Pickett, the actors were deers in the headlight. I feel that if they incorporated the best friend character more (whether that friend was part of the conspiracy or if she worked to help get Mary out of the hospital) it would have helped keep things exciting.

There's honestly no reason the character should be placed on a 72 hour psychiatric hold, no hospital staff member established that she is a danger to herself or others. Being on anti-depressant medication seems insufficient to place someone on a psych hold.

RIP Brittany Murphy and Jay Pickett.

Although this film has not had the best of reviews, I decided to watch it for myself. I'm glad with my decision, as I was glued to the screen from start to finish and would say that it was not the disappointment as previous viewers had hinted.

I will admit that after a short while it was easy to guess what was going on with the plot, but even so I was still rather pleasantly surprised with the couple of twists that lay in store for me. I'm not convinced that some of the supporting cast were that great, particularly Scott Anthony Leet who I felt was rather 'wooden'. However, the main characters certainly got my vote.

It's rather sad that we wont be seeing any more of Brittany Murphy.

Brittany Murphy had that something special. A certain look, an allure, a presence. As the French say, a certain something I don't know what. You see it in this movie. It's a drama/mystery/suspense flick that for some reason went direct to video.

Brittany drops off her boyfriend (Dean Cain) at the hospital for routine, out patient surgery. Except when she goes to pick him up, no one seems to know anything about him. He's not in the computer, his doctor is on vacation, and no one recognizes his nurse's name. Brittany gives a very good performance as the increasingly worried girl friend, seemingly losing the only man she has really connected with in a long time, or ever. Someone who has been there for her, and now, despite her best efforts, she can't be there for him. Peter Bogdanovich is also good as the creepy psychiatrist who suspects Brittany is suffering from a mental break down, a suspicion fueled by her current high dose anti-depressant meds and an unlikely story reeking of paranoia.

Supporting cast include Mimi Rogers as the clueless hospital administrator, Jay Pickett as the police detective with his own issues who is still good enough to follow the clues to the end, and Scott Anthony Leet as the intimidating security guard. Each give a competent performance that is credible.

The suspense is "edge of your seat" quality, and you can not be sure of the ending until it happens. Some (including me) might think it fairly obvious based on the plot clues, but that part is only the beginning of the twists.

As Brittany's final performance, this one is good enough to make you want to watch again sometime. Ultimately, it makes you wish she had longer to show us what she had.

Both the storyline and the acting pick up as the movie goes on, thankfully. I gave it a seven which might be generous, because it would've been better had the movie kept the momentum throughout. There were a few times I was ready to give up early on, and I imagine others will be, but it's worth sticking with it.

Some of the acting was weak, but some of it gets better as the movie goes on, and the story starts to compensate.

Possibly the worst aspect of the movie was the main lead's make up. I have never seen ANYTHING so shockingly bad! (except Hush-hush Sweet Charlotte, but that was intentional and tied in with the character's persona). That make up crew (Simon Monjack, Claudia Londoño) ought to be fired. Seriously, I just could not take my eyes off her face for the entire movie because it was so appalling, and I was trying to figure out what on earth technique they were using that made it turn out so awful. Totally unprofessional.

In Los Angeles, the manager of bank Mary Walsh (Brittany Murphy) brings her boyfriend Kevin Peterson (Dean Cain) to the County Memorial Hospital for an orthopedic surgery of ligaments of his left knee with Dr. Harding. Mary is a needy woman that has just lost her mother ago and started a relationship with Kevin four months ago. Mary meets Kevin still wearing his brace on the left leg in the preparation room of the hospital that is going to shut down and the nurse Amanda asks her to move to the waiting room. When Mary seeks information about the surgery, she finds that there is no record of Kevin in the system and he has vanished. Further, Dr. Harding is on vacation and there is no nurse Amanda in the staff. She calls the police and Detective Franklin (Jay Pickett) that is in a routine check-up in the hospital is assigned to the case. No one believes in Mary and when she accidentally drops her anti-depressive pills on the floor, she is sent to psychological evaluation with Dr. Markus Bensley (Peter Bogdanovich) that diagnoses her as unstable and delusional woman. Mary flees from his office and seeks out Kevin alone disclosing the truth about her prince charming.

"Abandoned" is the last chapter of Kevin's book; and also the last chapter of the life of the promising actress Brittany Murphy. The implausible plot is entertaining despite the flaws and incoherences. How could an unstable woman have the authority to handle large amounts in her bank? Further, if she is so powerful how could she have such stupid attitudes in the hospital? In her situation, she would immediately call her lawyer to handle the situation with the hospital administration and the police. The hair of Brittany Murphy is awful and she looks very tired in this film. The former Superman is out of shape and very fat and the ham actor Peter Bogdanovich is terrible in the role of an incompetent psychologist. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Busca Alucinante" ("Alucinating Chase")