'I saw Hitchcock, Polanski in Abandon' Traffic writer Stephen Gaghan debuts as director

Arthur J Pais

Two new reputations may be forged this weekend. Katie Holmes, who has acted in high profile but box-office duds like Wonder Boys and The Ice Storm, may become a Hollywood star. The Oscar-winning scriptwriter (for Traffic), Stephen Gaghan, may be a lucky first-time director. Their ticket to bigger success is Abandon, an intriguing, suspense film.

The $26 million Paramount film faces competition from Red Dragon, which is entering its third week and the DreamWorks newcomer The Ring, another scary film.

The Gaghan film, Abandon, revolves around a smart and ambitious graduating student Catherine Burke (Katie Holmes) who has to deal with a raft of pressures as she prepares for the beginning of a career. But when a police detective Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt) turns up with new questions about the disappearance of her boyfriend Embry (Charlie Hunnam) two years ago, Katie has to brace for unsettling revelations and shocking developments.

Holmes, a popular television actress thanks to her portrayal as Joey in Dawson's Creek, claims she fell in love with the early draft of the script. "There is so much truth in this story," she says in the press notes. "And yet, it is still a mystery dealing with human relationships."

Benjamin Bratt, who played a drug dealer in Traffic, says he accepted Abandon not only to work with Gaghan as a director but also because he had never been in a psychological thriller.

"There are elements of different genres --- psychological thriller and romantic film noir --- in Abandon," says Hunnam, the British actor who is getting a big break in an American film. He plays a rebellious young composer who had got Katie ask herself such simple but profound questions as 'Who am I?' and 'What do I want out of life?'

Don't Miss! Amitabh, 60: A special Salman Controversy     Recent Reviews Talk To Her Safe Conduct White Oleander The Four Feathers Leela Mr and Mrs Iyer     Recent Stories Who was Kishore     Kumar? My Baba, Kishore Kumar Ram Kumar on Ganesan How V C Ganesan     became Sivaji Ganesan's biographer      recalls sessions Animation films

"I saw (Alfred) Hitchcock and (Roman) Polanski in the script. It's fresh, very original, terrific piece of work," Hunnam says of the script, discussing why he accepted the film.

There is more than suspense and intrigue in Abandon, says Gaghan, which opens across America on October 18. "I was intrigued by the idea of how smart students under such pressures today not only do well in college, but also to go right into successful careers," says Gaghan. "They are expected to make life-changing decisions at graduation. Everything is a possibility until this moment and suddenly their choice of a career means the death of other opportunities."

The thriller is also a study of loneliness, feels Bratt, who was nominated for an Emmy for playing a detective in Law & Order. "The film is about two people who are broken, but in different ways," he explains. He plays a damaged man with memories of substance abuse, whose determination to remain sober is always present in his mind.

The title of the movie says a lot about its characters. While it refers to how Katie sees herself --- how many people including her own father abandoned her --- she is not the only one to feel that way.

"I love the word 'abandon'," says Gaghan. "It has so many meanings --- abandonment, sexual abandon, 'abandon all hope ye who enter here,' abandon old ideas --- and I tried to layer all those meanings throughout the film."