Seduced and Abandoned (2013 film)

• Ryan Gosling
• Jessica Chastain
• Diane Kruger
• Martin Scorsese
• Alec Baldwin
• James Caan
• Roman Polanski
• Francis Ford Coppola
• Bérénice Bejo
• Bernardo Bertolucci
• Jeremy Thomas
• Ben Schneider
• Thorsten Schumacher
• Taki Theodoracopulos{{Citation | last =Theodoracopulos | first =Taki | author-link =

| title =What's Cannes all about? Seducing someone important: High life | newspaper =The Spectator | date =25 May 2013

| url =http://www.spectator.co.uk/life/high-life/8914201/high-life-i-am-now-a-film-star/ | accessdate =11 November 2013 }}{{Citation | last =Ross | first =Deborah | title =Ryan Gosling couldn't play Taki better than Taki: Seduced and Abandoned Review | newspaper =The Spectator | date =9 November 2013 | url =http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts/cinema/9072841/ryan-gosling-couldnt-play-taki-better-than-taki/ | accessdate =11 November 2013}}

After discussing a film idea for quite some time, actor Alec Baldwin and writer/director James Toback decided to go to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and document their search for investors.{{cite web|last=Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|title=Alec Baldwin And James Toback Team On Cannes Docu 'Seduced And Abandoned'|url=https://deadline.com/2012/05/alec-baldwin-and-james-toback-team-on-cannes-docu-seduced-and-abandoned-272589/|work=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Penske Media Corporation|access-date=November 1, 2013|date=May 15, 2012}} During their time at Cannes, Baldwin and Toback interviewed many high-profile figures in the film industry.{{cite web|last=Lombardi|first=Ken|title=Alec Baldwin on his new documentary, "Seduced and Abandoned"|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alec-baldwin-on-his-new-documentary-seduced-and-abandoned/|work=CBS News|publisher=CBS|access-date=November 1, 2013|date=October 25, 2013}} "I knew all the directors I approached," said Toback. "I was pretty friendly with a few of them. Alec wanted those particular directors. Ryan Gosling was his idea. I've known Jessica Chastain for several years, and she was my idea. I hadn't thought about Diane Kruger before, but then we ran into her in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel [in Cannes, France]."{{cite web|title=Interview with James Toback|url=http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/seduced-and-abandoned/interview/james-toback.html|work=HBO|publisher=Home Box Office Inc.|accessdate=November 1, 2013}}

Seduced and Abandoned premiered in the Special Screenings section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2013.{{cite web|title=Official Selection 2013: Special Screenings|url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/2013/specialScreening.html|work=Cannes Film Festival|accessdate=November 6, 2013}} A week prior to its premiere at the festival, the North American rights to the film were acquired by HBO Films.{{cite web|title=Cannes: HBO Acquires North American Rights To Alec Baldwin/James Toback's 'Seduced And Abandoned' Feature Docu|url=https://deadline.com/2013/05/cannes-hbo-acquires-north-american-rights-to-alec-baldwinjames-tobacks-seduced-and-abandoned-feature-docu-497770/|access-date=November 1, 2013|work=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Penske Media Corporation|date=May 13, 2013}} It later aired on HBO on October 28, 2013 and will be given a cinematic release in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2013.{{cite web|title=Seduced and Abandoned: pitching a film in Cannes|url=http://www.tvweeklynow.com/news-blogs/seduced-and-abandoned-pitching-a-film-in-cannes.htm#sthash.QtED7Ufi.dpbs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030535/http://www.tvweeklynow.com/news-blogs/seduced-and-abandoned-pitching-a-film-in-cannes.htm#sthash.QtED7Ufi.dpbs|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 4, 2016|work=TV Weekly Now|accessdate=November 6, 2013|date=October 28, 2013}}{{cite web|title=Seduced and Abandoned {{!}} TotalFilm.com|url=http://www.totalfilm.com/seduced-and-abandoned|work=Total Film|publisher=Future Publishing|accessdate=November 6, 2013}}

The film received positive feedback from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 86% based on reviews from 22 critics, with a rating average of seven out of 10.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seduced_and_abandoned_2013/|title=Seduced and Abandoned|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Flixster|accessdate=November 6, 2013}} Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, reports the film with two different scores. When combined, the film has a score of 74 based on 19 reviews.{{cite web|title=Seduced and Abandoned: Season 1|url=https://www.metacritic.com/tv/seduced-and-abandoned/critic-reviews|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=November 6, 2013}}{{cite web|title=Seduced and Abandoned|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/seduced-and-abandoned|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=November 6, 2013}}

Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, calling the film "the year’s most entertaining put-on." Holden described it as a film that "rambles entertainingly from topic to topic. [...] There is hardly a dull moment."{{cite web|last=Stephen|first=Holden|title=Have I Got a Movie for You: Alec Baldwin and Neve Campbell in 'Seduced and Abandoned'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/alec-baldwin-and-neve-campbell-in-seduced-and-abandoned.html?_r=0|work=The New York Times|accessdate=November 6, 2013|date=October 17, 2013}} Hank Stuever of The Washington Post called the film "a fun, larky travel essay and commentary on the film biz, an exquisite wallow in the most rarefied sort of first-world problems."{{cite web|last=Stuever|first=Hank|title=HBO's 'Seduced and Abandoned': Cannes they get serious or is it all some kind of joke?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/hbos-seduced-and-abandoned-cannes-they-get-serious-or-is-it-all-some-kind-of-joke/2013/10/27/48309246-3a85-11e3-b7ba-503fb5822c3e_story.html|work=The Washington Post|publisher=Nash Holdings LLC|accessdate=November 6, 2013|date=October 27, 2013}} Conversely, David Hinkley of New York Daily News gave the film a negative review, stating, "In a perfect world, Seduced and Abandoned might have told us why it's so hard for grownups to find anything they want to see at the movies these days. Alas, while it flirts with that question and answer, in the end it plays a little too much like a home movie for the film industry."{{cite web|last=Hinkley|first=David|title='Seduced and Abandoned,' TV review|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/seduced-abandoned-tv-review-article-1.1497168|work=New York Daily News|publisher=Daily News, L.P.|accessdate=November 6, 2013|date=October 28, 2013}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{IMDb title|2402179|Seduced and Abandoned}}
• {{TCMDb title|959553|Seduced and Abandoned}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|seduced_and_abandoned_2013|Seduced and Abandoned}}

{{James Toback}}

{{Alec Baldwin}}

Category:2013 films

Category:Documentary films about the film industry

Category:American independent films

Category:American documentary films

Category:2013 documentary films

Category:Films directed by James Toback

Category:2013 independent films

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:2010s American films

Category:English-language documentary films

Category:English-language independent films