Abduction - (September 23rd, 2011): PG-13
Distributor: Lionsgate
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #4 with $10,925,253
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $15,189,000
Gross Revenue: $21,689,000
Production Budget: $35 million
Director: John Singleton
As the Twilight saga finally begins to wind down, it is understandable that its young stars try to branch out, but while Robert Pattinson had limited success in Water for Elephants and Kristen Stewart has generated buzz for her upcoming work in 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, Taylor Lautner seemed to be the last to step out of an established comfort zone. With Abduction, Lautner would be given a chance to showcase that he could portray more than an angst-riddled werewolf, and based on the supporting cast, it was clear that Lionsgate would be gearing to sell a potential blockbuster. Romantic interest Lily Collins gained widespread exposure for her performance in 2009’s The Blind Side, while Jason Isaacs (the Harry Potter films), Maria Bello (A History of Violence), and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) have all been prevalent mainstays at theaters. The biggest surprise by far involved the presence of Hollywood legend Sigourney Weaver, who gained worldwide recognition as Ellen Ripley in the Alien series; needless to say, her inclusion alone added credibility to the project. From a marketing standpoint, Lionsgate would have little trouble convincing Twi-hards to head to the theater (especially since hundreds showed up to an open casting the film held for extras), but the big question remained: could Taylor Lautner carry his own as an action star?
Abduction introduces audiences to Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner), a run-of-the mill high school student who lives with his parents, Kevin (Jason Isaacs) and Mara (Maria Bello), and harbors a crush for his next-door neighbor, Karen Murphy (Lily Collins). Life is perfect until Karen discovers Nathan’s photo on a missing children’s website, and as soon he decides to confront his parents on the issue, they are suddenly murdered by two mysterious agents who report to a man identified as Kozlow (Michael Nyqvist). Now on the run, Nathan and Karen attempt to contact the police but are intercepted by CIA operative Frank Burton (Alfred Molina), who informs them that they are in danger and that he will send a team to pick them up. Before they can rendezvous with Burton, Nathan runs into his psychiatrist, Dr. Geraldine Bennett (Sigourney Weaver), who claims that she serves as his “protector” and that she is a friend of his biological father’s; she also quickly warns that Burton cannot be trusted. Struggling to discover his true identity and now dodge both the CIA agents and professional assassins chasing him, Nathan must not only survive, but also protect Karen, who has been placed directly in harm’s way.
Based on premise alone, Abduction does have a number of entertaining moments, with the narrative setting up enough elements to make the story loosely plausible. For instance, Nathan is the star of the wrestling team and regularly engages in brutal combat training with his “father,” so it is not that far a stretch of the imagination to believe that he would be able to hold his own in a few fights. The premise of the story is unique enough to generate interest and overall pacing keeps an acceptable level of tension and excitement throughout. In terms of Lautner’s on-screen presence, he demonstrates some potential as a leading man, being put through the paces of action sequences and generating enough chemistry with Lily Collins, but it is clear that he is not quite ready for the sole spotlight just yet. Beyond these few glimpses of hope, Abduction still has some major shortcomings, which rather than correct, filmmakers tried to hide…poorly.
Like I mentioned before, Lautner has some potential, but his acting experience is far from fully developed, barely reacting to situations that necessitate some kind of emotional depth. Parents killed; chased and shot at by assassins; love-of-your-life finally reciprocating feelings…these deep situations simply do not warrant the exact same reaction, or lack there-of. Now, the director tries to cover up Lautner’s inexperience with dramatic close-ups and other camera tricks designed to create some kind of notion of character engagement, but more often than not, the ploy comes off cheesy and desperate: “Lautner can’t react, let’s zoom in on his face and play dramatic music, maybe that tactic will work.” As for the strong supporting cast, they are inexplicably under-used; if I was writing a script for a young actor’s first solo adventure and was fortunate enough to get Sigourney Weaver in the cast, I would put her in as many scenes as humanly possible to boost overall quality. Abduction also quickly abandons the creative premise it started with and devolves into a generic spy thriller that everyone has seen before…one scene could have been directly ripped from The Bourne Identity. To put it bluntly, if Lautner was trying to prove himself as the next go-to action star for Hollywood, this was definitely the wrong project to choose.
Absolutely no one would argue against the fact that Abduction represented a box office gamble, but if I was part of Lionsgate’s distribution team, there is no way I would have released this unproven action thriller against so much overt competition. With The Lion King 3D in its second weekend, and new releases Dolphin Tale, Killer Elite, and Moneyball, limited audiences would be undeniably split. I have to admit; almost $11 million seems pretty high for fourth place, so the film could have done far worse. With an undeniable appeal to the female demographic and a foreign presence, Abduction is slowly eating away at its production budget, which represents a far smaller hurdle to overcome than the other action entry, Killer Elite. Far from terrible, Abduction clearly doesn’t represent the next classic action thriller, but it does have entertainment value; look at it this way, in time, Lautner will not be forever relegated to the Twilight franchise.
Overall Recommendation: Low
