It’s been established that Taylor Lautner can shuck a mean shirt, but can he hold together an action movie in its lead role? Over the approving shrieks of the Twilight fans in the audience, I’m going to gently suggest that at the moment, the answer is no. As Nathan, the teenage hero of Abduction, Lautner shows he’s handy with stunts, many of which he clearly and impressively performs himself, and good with a fight scene. But when it comes to exchanges of dialogue, displays of emotion or just standing around, he’s stiff and manifestly uncomfortable — this may be the first film I’ve even seen where when an actor goes to put his hand thoughtfully on his chin, it’s so awkward I became afraid he’d somehow miss and poke himself in the eye.
Fortunately, John Singleton (whose last feature, aside from his overly sympathetic Marion Jones 30 for 30 doc, was Four Brothers back in 2005) has created a giddily preposterous film, so delinquent in dealing with its dramatic elements they often become the source of unintended laughs. “A few days ago we were only high school kids. It feels like a lifetime ago,” intones Nathan’s love interest Karen (Lily Collins, daughter of Phil), the girl next door, in a moment of unnecessary reflection. “It was,” he answers. Such instances of downtime are rare — after it’s uncovered that not all is as it seems with Nathan’s childhood, he and Karen spend most of the film on the run from both surpassingly competent…
Amanda Detmer Amanda Marcum Amanda Peet Amanda Righetti Amanda Swisten Amber Arbucci Amber Brkich
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