If there’s one movie teens and die-hard Taylor Lautner fanatics have been waiting to see this year, it’s been Abduction. What they probably don’t know is that like the film’s title, the plot might have been just a little on the abducted side as well.

The movie focuses on a young man named Nathan Price (Lautner) who up until his senior year of high school, lived a life any teenager would die for: two loving parents, a wealthy home (with even the joy of riding a motorcycle to school everyday). Even the opening scene depicts this sort of unrealistic teenage life of Price’s drag racing, partying, and passing out from binge drinking. And as if the film can’t seem to portray a more “care-free” scenario than it already does, the film continues on with Price’s use of multiple Mac computers while even managing to throw in an advertisement for the new iPad model put at his disposal.

As modern teens in these economic times know, the life Lautner’s character depicts in Abduction is nothing but a fantasy and can’t help but be ignored as one watches him evolve from an identity of one minute knowing who he and his real parents are, to finding that the people “posing” as his parents for as long as he can remember was always, in fact, a lie. This “lie” or “search for one’s identity” that Price goes through easily can resemble a conflict similar to the one that Matt Damon faces in “The Bourne Trilogy” films and Lautner clearly was going for this sort of “Matt-Damon-want-to-be” effect, for one character during the film even mentions that his appearance resembles the Academy Award-winning actor.

Even the added romantic story that ties in with Price’s long-time crush, Karen, (played by The Blind Side newcomer, Lily Collins), portrays an incredibly similar resemblance to the romance in The Bourne Ultimatum, for both portray leading man and leading lady on the run together where they realize their bond amongst the peril of being chased by the government. But let’s not forget the added effect of those explosions and fight scenes that director John Singleton flourishes the screen abundantly with, (you know, just in case some teenage boys might be watching this film as well).

What’s interesting is the fact that when you look closely at Singleton’s usual films, they portray characters that are mainly of African American decent and in Abduction, though the action is familiar, the use of a more Caucasian, diverse cast differs from the director’s usual work. Also, it is almost paramount to mention that Singleton hasn’t had a hit film since the early 2000’s, so maybe this new spin was his way of reaching out to a broader, if not just younger, audience by bringing in not only Lautner, but well-known actors such as Alfred Molina, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, and the ever-famous Sigourney Weaver.

Overall, this film was clearly a push to showcase Lautner’s ability to act, for the tears shed and anger he manages to expose are obviously a target to keep Lautner fans’ hearts fluttering in his direction and the critics holding out for his potential to show through in, possibly, an even more mature role. I know I will be waiting for this day to come as well, so maybe Singleton should have waited a few years to grab a piece of Lautner’s star power for when it will really count.

Grade: C