Abduction
Hangover spy
When the movie “Abduction” (USA, 2011) was released in theaters, it seemed to have as its main attribute the beginning of the solo career of young actor Taylor Lautner, the werewolf in the “Twilight” saga, rivaling with vampire Edward for the love of Bella. However, the synopsis pointed to another similarity, with the film “No Way Out” (USA, 1987), starring Kevin Costner, in which he plays a naval officer pursued for a crime he had not committed.
Nathan (Taylor Lautner) lives like all his young middle-class friends, dividing his time between school, sports and partying. It soon becomes clear that Nathan’s family is different, as when he wakes up with a hangover after a binge, his father, Kevin (Jason Isaacs), submits him to a tough boxing session, under the critical eye of his mother, Mara (Maria Bello).
Like every teenager, Nathan also has his attraction to the opposite sex, and in this case, the target of his attention is Karen (Lily Collins), neighbor and childhood friend, who prefers her college boyfriend.
The only thing different in Nathan’s life is a recurring dream, where he witnesses an attack on a woman. But, according to his psychologist, Dr. Bennett (Sigourney Weaver), these are the creations of his mind, which must be put aside, and he needs to prioritize self-control above all else.
One day, however, everything changes when he and Karen are doing school work on missing children. Upon checking a website, which shows what the child would be like after several years, Nathan sees his face, which confirms suspicions that he would be adopted.
On questioning the mother, she admits that this is true, but before she has time to explain further, the house is invaded by two murderers looking for the boy, who coldly kill Nathan’s parents.
Nathan and Karen become fugitives, being sometimes helped, sometimes persecuted, having no idea what was happening to them, but mostly, not knowing who they could trust. Among those around them are Dr Bennet, who turns out to be a former CIA agent, top agency boss Frank Burton (Alfred Molina), and a mysterious and dangerous killer, former Serbian spy Kozlow (Michael Nyqvist) .
The life of the teenagers becomes a roller coaster, where attacks follow one another, and it is impossible to know which step to take. The purpose of all this persecution is a coded list, which would be the names of agents and politicians who would be involved in corruption and selling information to enemies.
Nathan realizes that, even with his young age and experience in life, he will have to take the reins of events to fight the powerful enemy, even if it means putting at risk everything he considers most important.
Despite the bad reception by the specialized critics, “Abduction” manages to bring to the spectator a portrait of the current world, where despite living in the Age of Communication, it is not known where the true information is.
Unlike a time when the enemy was identified by the color of the uniform, today we live in a silent battle, where there are no physical borders, and the interest in money assumed a much more important value than ethics or patriotism.
In this film, unlike the James Bond stories, where a very prepared agent faces everything, what we have is a perplexed hero, still very young, who struggles to try to believe that everything that was true until the day before, today it is no more.
Taylor Lautner, although he being young and little experienced in the world of cinema, manages to give credibility to his character, creating a complicity with the spectator by sharing his deep ignorance about the facts that occur.
The supporting cast, meanwhile, provides extraordinary support for the film, featuring veterans Alfred Molina and Sigourney Weaver. Swede Michael Nyqvist, although little known outside Sweden, also has a long career, mainly for his role in the Millenium trilogy, based on the books by Stieg Larsson: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (“Män som hatar kvinnor”, SUE, 2009), “The Girl Who Played With Fire” (“Flickan som lekte med elden”, SUE, 2009) and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” (“Luftslottet som sprängdes”, SUE, 2009).
“Abduction” is a good action movie, which consolidated Lautner’s career, and that should please not only the Twilight audience, but all lovers of spy and action movies. I recommend.