Abandon is a psychological thriller that forces a viewer to anticipate a huge plot twist. That anticipation is prompted by disbelief, because the plot is so transparent that you can suss out the whole movie just by looking at the advertising.

That can't be the punch-line, you say to yourself, but, gentle reader, it is. Duuuuuhhh.

Katie Holmes puts in a very fine performance as a first-rate student who is under major stress -- she's about to finish university, she is applying for a high-pressure job and her personal life is tense. Seems her rich but somewhat flaky boyfriend just up and left school some two years ago, and now the police have reopened an investigation into his whereabouts. Like she has time for this? The woman has a thesis to finish.

So on top of everything else, Holmes' character now has to talk to the police about this painful personal subject. Memories haunt her of the good times the couple had before the boyfriend (Charlie Hunnam) took off. The cop who questions Holmes is played by Benjamin Bratt, so at least our Miss Holmes gets to chat to a hottie.

Much of Abandon is used to build character. Holmes has worked hard all her life for her achievements, and the pressure she's under is palpable. This helps build tension, but only if you haven't already guessed what's going on, and you will have. The performances, meanwhile, are uniformly good, and Abandon is sprinkled with strong cameos, including Fred Ward as a cop, Sam Goldwyn as a psychiatrist and Philip Bosco as a professor. And any movie that includes Zooey Deschanel in the cast is cause for hope ...

But it's all wasted. Abandon tips its own hand early on in the proceedings, like before you even enter the theatre. This is that rare psychological thriller that has no thrills.

And how does that happen? The film was written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and the story is derivative in many ways. Still, Gaghan's best intentions, for all we know, may have been destroyed by the same marketing thinking that gave away What Lies Beneath or Enough or any of the other movies sold with too much information beforehand. Rein in that wreckless abandon, please.

(This film is rated PG)

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