It's tough for teen movie stars to grow up in Hollywood. That transition won't be any less easy for "Twilight" super-hunk, Taylor Lautner.
That's the verdict after watching Lautner's first, top-billed performance in "Abduction," the staggeringly awful action-thriller from director John Singleton ("Boyz n the Hood," "2 Fast 2 Furious").
Frankly, there's not much good that can be said about a film that serves up dialogue like "I'm not dying here: there's a bomb in the oven!"
Clunkers likes these do earn some laughs throughout this tale about a teen from the burbs who learns that he was abducted years before by spies. Whether Singleton meant for that reaction in this paint-by-numbers version of "The Bourne Identity" is another story.
Singleton gives Lautner's fans exactly what they want as "Abduction" opens and they first meet highschool hunk, Nathan Price.
Riding on the hood of his best friend's truck, Nathan yells "Whoohoo!" as they speed off to a keg party.
He flashes his pearly whites. His brown eyes twinkle for the camera and the wind blows the shirt from Nathan's chiselled stomach.
That's not the last glimpse we see of Lautner's celebrated abs.
After a wild night of partying, Nathan wakes up on the lawn the next morning, topless and holding a beer cup. By the time this kid gets his shirt on -- and keeps it on -- moviegoers learn plenty about Nathan's past.
Troubled by recurring dreams and incapable of controlling his anger, Nathan seeks the counsel of a therapist (Sigourney Weaver).
"I feel like I'm living a life that isn't mine," he tells Dr. Bennett.
That suspicion proves true after Nathan begins a school project on missing children.
Nathan and his classmate (Lily Collins) stumble upon a website about missing children. The site allows for users to see what these kids would look like as young adults.
Nathan clicks a little button and -- bam! -- his face appears alongside one of the missing children.
From that moment on, Nathan's life is turned upside down.
The people he believes are his parents are blown up (thanks to that bomb in the oven). His adoptive and natural parents were spies. A nasty Russian spy (Mikael Nyqvist) also hunts Nathan down to use him as a bargaining tool with the CIA.
The premise is intriguing. But how it is handled from this point on is just ridiculous, especially when we learn why the Russian wants Nathan -- the boy accidentally acquires a cellphone loaded with a list of names the Russian needs.
"I want your cellphone," Nyqvist threatens Nathan.
"Give me what I want or you will be responsible for the death of all your friends… on Facebook."
Once again, moviegoers laugh but for all the wrong reasons.
"Abduction" isn't without a few good points. Its cinematography is crisp and the film's supporting cast of veteran actors holds their own. But Lautner's wooden portrayal of a teen on the run does little to make us care for his plight.
"Abduction" tries to sell Lautner as a young Jason Bourne. But it doesn't work. Singleton's movie never reveals any dark, surprising depths about Nathan or the actor who plays him.
Fans will get what they expect from "Twilight" star Lautner. But can he act? "Abduction" does little to answer that question.
One star out of four.
