Abandoned - Amore e inganno

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.

An pretty simple but suspenseful thriller that to me is very similar to Flightplan but set in a hospital. It had an very hitchcock like vibe to it as the innocent Mary Walsh who is played by the lovely Brittany Murphy what is tragically her last role is accused of being crazy when she reports that her boyfriend of 4 years is missing from the hospital and finds out that they have no record of him being there. This was a pretty basic movie when it came to action and it was almost borderline lifetime movie of the week to me but it was very watchable and kind of kept me on the edge of my seat guessing why this was all happening to her and the twist which I kind of saw coming from a mile away was pretty messed up but still pretty standard though. The acting was mostly on the weaker side but Brittany Murphy's performances always has this charm to them but you can sadly tell that her state of health wasn't good in this movie and it looked like they tried to hide it by putting a lot of makeup on her but her hair looked greasy and crusty it was tragic to see. Overall it wasn't the best movie ever and I've seen it done better before but if you like Brittany Murphy you should check it out because she pretty much saves the movie from completely sucking but don't expect anything out of the ordinary. More of a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

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.

I have never written a review on IMDb even though I view this site daily and have for 5 or 6 years. I'm not a movie snob; I'm like most people: I want to be entertained or made to think because of what I am viewing.

This movie could have been quite good. It isn't. Brittany M. was fine, but no one else was. The minor roles were cast with unknowns. Their acting was as poor as you'll find in a studio produced motion picture. This must have been done on a "shoe string" as everything about it appears cheaply done. You'll notice that the guns sound like cap guns.

Beyond its predictability, I think what bothered me most was the amateurish acting of everyone except Murphy and the Lieutenant; even Cain was poor. Was it poor direction and a bad script that created this serious flaw? I don't know. I do know that it sticks out like a sore thumb.

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")