What Do The Critics Say?

"The notion of discovering a secret about yourself on the internet is a great premise on which to build a thriller, especially one whose central character is a teen. Lautner gets his first genuine, gold plated leading role. An undemanding, escapist 106 minutes, with a variety of stunts and chases. There are a couple of surprises and a few slightly cheesy moments, but it essentially does what it is meant to." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "Taylor Lautner is looking to break out of his Jacob screen persona and his role as Nathan in Abduction should achieve just that. Just as Breaking Dawn is set to wrap up the Twilight series, Lautner has put all his marbles in a film that could very well make him an action star. Lautner fans will love it. Veteran actors Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Maria Bello and Jason Isaacs bring the esteem to the project." Joel D Amos MOVIE FANATIC

"There are extravagant stunts, splashy action sequences and a taylor-made romance (sorry, couldn't resist) between Lautner and Lily Collins, who is pretty as a picture. Jason Isaacs and Maria Bello are terrific as Nathan's parents and Sigourney Weaver is a welcome presence as Nathan's sympathetic psychiatrist. Ed Shearmur's non too subtle score pounds through the action like a fanfare. Abduction is a wanna-be Bourne Identity, with Lautner playing out his acting fantasy." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "Parents need to know that this action thriller stars Twilight hunk Taylor Lautner and rising star Lily Collins, so it's sure to attract teens. But there's a fair bit of violence, language, and intrigue that might make it too mature for tween members of Team Jacob. The more intense sequences include several character deaths, execution-style shootings, sniper kills, and a couple of brutal beatings, one of which results in a man being chucked out of a speeding train." Sandie Angulo Chen COMMON SENSE MEDIA

The Inside Story "Abduction" began as a simple but inspiring germ of a story idea that Gotham Group Executive Producer Jeremy Bell brought to Vertigo's Roy Lee and Doug Davison four years ago. But it really took off after a subsequent meeting between screenwriter Shawn Christensen and the producers at The Gotham Group. "At the very end of that meeting," Christensen recounts, "Lee Stollman mentions 'And then there's this idea about this kid who sees himself as a child on a missing persons website.' I thought it was a really good idea. I left that meeting to think about the project some more and two weeks later, I had lunch with Lee in New York later and said, 'I'd like to kind of go my own way and have a bit of fun with it. If you give me sixty days, I'll give you a draft.' And in sixty-three days I showed them the first pass of Abduction." "Shawn likes to work with puzzles, and he responded to the idea of telling a story about finding your place," producer Ellen Goldsmith-Vein says as to why Christensen was the right choice for the project. "He was so taken with the idea that he turned in his first draft just two months after his meeting with Lee." "Shawn took that one-line idea and built a movie around it," Stollman adds. "To me it was just a great hook, but we could never really crack the story," says Stollman. "I'd never before seen a movie about a kid who is seemingly living a life, and then is suddenly living a lie." So much of the film hinges on the audience's investment in protagonist Nathan Harper, and all of the producers agreed that Taylor Lautner was the first and best choice to play him. Goldsmith-Vein explains of Lautner, "Taylor is probably the only actor his age who could take on this role, given his abilities as a martial artist and as an athlete. He's also incredibly smart and really serious." Stollman agrees, "Taylor's got the physicality, the appeal, both for men and women. He's just a great young leading man." Roy Lee and Taylor Lautner met for a general meeting on June 4th, 2009, in which Taylor really sparked to the idea. Almost a year later, Roy approached Taylor Lautner's team at Quick Six with Shawn Christiansen's completed screenplay as a starring vehicle, and got a carefully considered, enthusiastic 'yes'. With a solid endorsement, Gotham, Vertigo and Quick Six worked in tandem to further develop the script and tailor it especially for Lautner, ultimately joining with Lionsgate, where Motion Picture Group President Joe Drake and President of Production Alli Shearmur quickly green-lit the film based on Lautner's immense appeal and the taut script. "Lionsgate's understanding of the genre and subject matter made them the perfect partner for us," producer Dan Lautner notes. "I loved this project from the moment I read it," Shearmur said. "I'd worked on the 'Bourne' films, and recognized in Abduction a similar kind of intrigue and thrill, but also a uniquely all-American, very relatable and accessible quality that I thought made it really special. I know how carefully Taylor and his team considered his first leading man role, how involved they were in every aspect of the film's development, and so we were thrilled when they agreed with us that Lionsgate was uniquely suited to bring Taylor in his first starring role to market." With Taylor and his Quick Six attached and the film green-lit at Lionsgate, director John Singleton signed on to helm the film, and he and the existing group quickly forged a collaborative bond. "It was fast and exciting, Christensen recalls. "He would send little notes to me. He has this great smile, great attitude and great ideas." The project was locked in so quickly that principal photography commenced just four months after its sale. "For me, "Abduction" is essentially a story about a son who didn't know who his father was," Singleton says. "It's a story about a young man who is trying to find himself, and that makes it very universal, because we're all trying to find ourselves in some way. The movie has a lot of action, but my inspiration in making it really came from classic adventure stories where the character is changed and transformed by the experience of the adventure." "That's the exciting thing about working with John," Crowley ("The Other Guys") notes, adding, "he is as a director who has an encyclopedic knowledge of film and film history.You feel comfortable that you've got a guy who has a great visual sense, and who also looks forward to and is quite accomplished in working with young actors." People have never seen Taylor Lautner the way they're going to see him in this movie," says 2001 Locarno International Film Festival winner Singleton ("Baby Boy"). "He really blossoms as an actor. We talked a lot about what he could pull out of himself to give this character weight. I think it's beautiful for me as a director to see him evolve as an actor within this movie." Lautner, it seems, has had a lifelong affection for action films. "I've always loved action movies. This role is by far the most physically challenging role I've ever done, which is pretty cool, but it also has a lot more going on. I loved the character and everything he goes through in the story." The first task the filmmakers faced, was casting Nathan's girl next door crush and chase companion Karen. Lily Collins had made a strong impression on Singleton, Shearmur and her colleagues at Lionsgate, and the film's producers with her work in "The Blind Side" playing Collins Tuohy. "There were a lot of people that we looked at for the role," says Crowley of the search to find the perfect Karen. "But Lily was someone that stuck with everybody, because there's an all-American quality about her. Whether it's in person or on screen, you feel that she's really easy to get to know." "My character Karen is a really strong, confident young woman," Collins ("Priest") revealed. "She's not just the girl in the story. She's not just a love interest or a partner in crime. She really is there full force. There aren't many roles for young girls or for young women out there that aren't just your typical girl role." "Lily Collins is awesome and beautiful. People are going to see her for a long time to come," Singleton offered. Jason Isaacs and Maria Bello portray Taylor's presumed parents, Kevin and Mara. Though Isaacs immediately embraced the character and script, his enthusiasm increased when he thought of the added perks of the job. "I got the script and it was even more fun than I thought," Isaacs ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 & 2") recalls. "I get to box, I get to dance and I get to kiss Maria Bello. What's there to think about?" "I heard, 'John Singleton' and said, 'I want to work with John!' And then I read the script. I thought it was fantastic: a great action-thriller, but one with heart," 2004 Golden Satellite Award winner Bello ("The Cooler") recalls. "Maria plays Mara and she's super, super sweet, and obviously an incredibly talented actress. I couldn't have had anybody better to play that role opposite. She was tremendous," Lautner notes. Singleton ("Shaft") observes, "Jason Isaacs is an actor of enormous power. He shot this great scene where he's training Nathan. It's kind of semi-abusive, you know, he's just smacking him around and Nathan doesn't understand why he's trying to teach him how to box and train and do all these endurance tests. But then later on in the picture when he's going through the stuff and he's running for his life, Nathan understands why." Of his on-screen dad, Lautner ("Cheaper by the Dozen 2") says, "He is one of the funniest guys I've ever met. The father-son relationship is really intense and he's really stern with Nathan. Before shooting, Jason and I joke around, but as soon as the cameras roll, we have to go into father-son mode." 2003 Imagen Best Actor Award winner Alfred Molina ("Frida") was cast as Agent Burton, the CIA agent tailing Nathan. "This role was a whole bunch of firsts. I've never played a CIA operative before, which was quite interesting. he idea of that was intriguing in and of itself. I've never worked with John Singleton before, and I've been a fan of his movies for a long time. I had the chance to work with a whole new generation of young actors like Taylor and Lily and Antonique Smith. I thought this was a nice confluence of different things that were new to me." 1989 Dual Golden Globe winner Sigourney Weaver ("Working Girl" & "Gorillas in the Mist") took on the pivotal role of Dr Geri Bennett, a role that was originally written for a male actor. "We changed it throughout the casting," Stollman (who makes his producing debut with this film) explained. "It was an inspired idea to have Sigourney play that role, and she's phenomenal." "As Bennett, Sigourney has worked for the CIA for probably thirty years and one of her specialties was training agents, or debriefing agents after they would come back from missions that were particularly harrowing," Crowley ("Eight Below") revealed. "Nathan's character had some very emotional circumstances early on, so the CIA felt it very important to be able to ease him through the transition of becoming a young adult in a comfortable, therapeutic way. So they put Sigourney Weaver's character at his disposal." Sigourney (who voiced the ships computer in "WALL·E") notes: "His father, Kevin, trains him physically. I think his mother trains him emotionally, and Geri Bennett trains him psychologically. They've all got him going." Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist plays Kozlow, Nathan's nemesis. "We had seen "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and we all fell in love with Michael in that movie," Stollman said. "He's completely unexposed here in the US and we felt that he was a great fresh face. He can appear sinister, but he's also a handsome, charismatic leading man." Producer Doug Davison agrees. "We were looking for a European villain and I had recently watched 'Dragon Tattoo', which he's terrific in. We found out that he's Swedish, and since he speaks Swedish in that movie, we needed to know how strong his English was. And it was terrific! He was our first choice. We went after him, he was available and we got him. We feel really fortunate to have him in the film." "I've always been attracted to the question of finding your roots," Nyqvist ("As It Is in Heaven") states. "And I love John Singleton's work. He called me and we started to talk about it. I read a script and thought it was well written. Plus the part I play is a bad guy, and that is so fun to do." Antonique Smith who won raves for her portrayal of Faith Evans in "Notorious", longed to have an action sequence she could call her own. "I have a shootout! Smith exclaimed. "I love Angelina Jolie, and I get to have my 'Angelina moment'. So I'm excited about that." Shooting began on July 12th 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on location at Hampton High School in Allison Park, using the school's actual marching band, cheerleaders and wrestling team as willing extras. "Pittsburgh is an incredibly visual city," Crowley ("Sleepless in Seattle") says. "It has all these bridges. It has three rivers. It has a wonderful urban landscape in which there are skyscrapers right across from a football field, a baseball field, and a huge hockey rink." What's It All About?

For as long as he can remember, Nathan Harper has had, thanks to a dream, an uneasy feeling that he's living someone else's life. When he stumbles upon an image of himself as a little boy on a missing persons website, all of Nathan's darkest fears come true: he realizes his parents are not his own and his life is a lie, carefully fabricated to hide something more mysterious and dangerous than he could have ever imagined. Just as he begins to piece together his true identity, Nathan is targeted by a team of trained killers, forcing him on the run with the only person he can trust, his neighbor Karen. Every second counts as Nathan and Karen race to evade an army of assassins and federal operatives. But as his opponents close in, Nathan soon realizes the only way he'll survive and solve the mystery of his elusive biological father: is to stop running and take matters into his own hands.

The Verdict "I'm sure there are some critics out there, whose only 'style', when it comes to writing or talking about films, is to always 'put shit'on anything that comes out. Unless of course, it's an arty-farty film made by of a couple of 'talented' twelve year olds which has won some obscure award in a country whose name we can't pronounce or can't find on Google Earth (no Cannes is not a country), and is, according to the said critics, a film they gush about because in their opinion, said film has such great potential, film-lovers will flock to their local 'arthouse' cinema in droves. To be totally honest, I didn't know what to expect when I joined the audience at my local multiplex, for an inseason session screening, "Abduction". The first thought I did have was: Lautner, isn't he the angry Werewolf guy in Twilight. who has a big crush on Bella? It's true. Because of that factor, I assumed the audience would be jam-packed with besotted Twilight fans. Wrong! Having heard about the confrontational backyard scene, I expected to be shocked beyond belief. Wrong! Yes, I was a little taken aback, but I suspected there was a reason for a father and son belting the living crap out of each other. And what about the Lautner one dimensional look? You know: the dark scowl. Crikey! Anyone could have gotten that right. But that didn't get in the way either. What I ended up seeing was a reasonably good film; which was both, enjoyable and entertaining; had a good cast and plenty of action good pieces. Notice readers: I said good and not great. It's the old meat pie conundrum: sometimes it's better with tomato sauce. But, if you're a 'Twilight' fan, you will obviously get more out of "Abduction" than most, because of the Lautner factor. For everyone else? Go in expecting less and you'll probably enjoy it a whole lot more back. And believe me: it really does beat watching Rupert Grint on the bigscreen. Lautner kicks ass! Recommended. 3 1/2 STARS." Who Is Playing Who?

Taylor Lautner Lily Collins Jason Isaacs Maria Bello Sigourney Weaver Alfred Molina Michael Nyqvist Ken Arnold Jake Andolina Oriah Acima Andrews Steve Blass Derek Burnell Ben Cain Holly Cavanuagh Radick Cembrzynski Richard Cetrone Cherokee Walker

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Nathan Karen Kevin Mara Dr Bennett Burton Kozlow Thermal CIA Man Riah Game Announcer Hot Dog Vendor Driver Mrs Murphy Kozlow's Tech Gregory Helicopter Pilot

The Production Team Directed by John Singleton Written by Shawn Christensen Produced by Doug Davison/Dan Lautner/Roy Lee/Lee Stollman/Ellen Goldsmith-Vein Executive Producers Anthony Katagas/Gabriel Mason/Jeremy Bell Director of Photography Peter Menzies Jr Film Editing by Bruce Cannon Casting by Alan Lee & Joseph Middleton Production Design by Keith Brian Burns Art Direction by Liba Daniels Set Decoration by Julie Smith Costume Design by Ruth E Carter Run Time 106 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2011 - Roadshow Films - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2011 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian & International Copyright, Trademark Laws & Intellectual Property Rights.