Breakdown
Breakdown
R | 02 May 1997 (USA)
Breakdown Trailers

When his SUV breaks down on a remote Southwestern road, Jeff Taylor lets his wife, Amy, hitch a ride with a trucker to get help. When she doesn't return, Jeff fixes his SUV and tracks down the trucker -- who tells the police he's never seen Amy. Johnathan Mostow's tense thriller then follows Jeff's desperate search for his wife, which eventually uncovers a small town's murderous secret.

Reviews
VeteranLight

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

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Dynamixor

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

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Voxitype

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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Taha Avalos

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

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keelhaul-80856

This was a decent movie, and Kurt Russell and the main trucker guy help it a great deal with good acting. It has enough action and entertainment to keep the tension going throughout. However, it is quite silly in some ways, such as...1) Why would a man let his wife ride away with a trucker in the middle of a desert, without coming along? Because he is worried about his vehicle? In the middle of the desert? There were barely even any people in the area, and my wife's safety is much more important.2) All people in small towns or rural areas are evil rednecks that attack or inconvenience outsiders! Watch out! Any time you leave the safety of Massachusetts, you will be spotted by guys from Deliverance or farmers who want to steal your money and kill you. The truckers and rednecks in the film are hilarious, though some of it feels realistic at times. I feel safer in areas like this than big cities full of crime, though. Why would everyone in a small town treat you like crap? Because you are wearing nice clothes? Most folks are glad for tourism dollars or at least a few of them would try to help you in a bad time.3) What is the obsession with Kurt having a "rich" car? LOL. This was funny. The rednecks keep mentioning how they knew he had money because he has a Jeep Cherokee with a CD changer and some (now-basic) features. You can tell this was made in the 90s, if a Jeep with a nice radio is considered wealthy! This point is made several times, and just makes me laugh. Yes, even in the 90s, if you had a Jeep and some khaki pants, you probably are the CEO of a major corporation.4) Kill the stupid, evil people when you have the chance! Stop letting a guy threaten you, kidnap you and your wife, assault you both, and attempt to murder you, and then keep holding them at gun point or tying them up to escape later. This is just so ridiculously stupid in most suspense movies.5) This is the funniest part to me. The kidnappers think he has $90,000 in an account, and they are willing to kill for it. Here's the deal, though-- at least 4 or more guys are involved in the plot. So, a man with a profitable trucking business, a nice 2-story house, a huge farm, lots of equipment and barns, etc. is willing to risk his family and kidnapping/murder charges for like a year's salary, when you divide the money among the goons?????? What sense does this make? The other losers might be believable, as they look like simple-minded white trash that live in a single wide and smoke meth, but the main antagonist just has too much too lose for this. They should have written a plot where he desperately needed the money up front for something, or had some young punks pull off the crime. Red just didn't make much sense risking his neck for 30 grand.

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Bole_SLO

I watched this movie for the first time likely 20 years ago. Then I watched it 10 years ago and forgot about its existence. In the absence of anything resembling a good thriller coming out of movie industry lately images of this movie started to push through my consciousness. I googled for 2 days based on images but I got it. This, is probably the most underrated thriller of all time. 6.9 ? Give me a break. This is 8+ easy. High tension, suspense and action Scene and tone are laid down in first few minutes. It does not let go from there. Even more important than pure suspense and action, characters are believable and they make rational choices. All in all, a fantastic gem of a movie.

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Hickoryburger

On the surface this movie is a thriller. Kurt Russell is the everyman Jeff Taylor. Kathleen Quinlan plays his wife Amy and she has little screen time. J.T. Walsh, as always, shines in his role as the bad bad man. The story plays out how you anticipate it will and it has a lot of fun along the way. This movie is also an allegory for how poor decision making and losing sight of what's important can jeopardize one's marriage. Consider the fact that in the beginning of the film Jeff and Amy are reflecting on their journey from Massachusetts to San Diego, their financial difficulties, and their regret that they spent so much money on their car, a loaded SUV. Due to Jeff's inattentiveness a series of unfortunate events unfolds. At the critical juncture in the film, when their car breaks down and they are offered a ride, Jeff decides to stay with the car while his wife gets in the truck with the samaritan. The rest of the movie follows Jeff as he fights like hell to save his wife and his marriage. Along the way, he loses the car and all his money but rediscovers what's really important. The moral? Keep your eyes on the road and stick by your wife :)

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badfeelinganger

Kurt Russells character Jeff, search for his wife is reminiscent of The Vanishing and yet there is something else, an insidious violence that declares open season on strangers. Whatever is going on, and you never quite know for certain, it has an ugly echo of the dark side of country.This could easily have been a style-washed film noir of the Red Rock West variety. Instead, Mostow remains believable, therefore increasing the tension. He makes you feel Taylor's terror and rage. He makes you breathe fast and shallow. Russell can be beef-caked and plastic films like Escape From New York, Big Trouble In Little China. He can be solid wood Stargate and stiff-upper ed The Thing. What Mostow achieves with him here is remarkable.Taylor is not presented in Stallonescope, rather as an ordinary bloke who doesn't know what to do. Russell can slip into stereotype at the scratch of a producer's pen. What makes Breakdown such a convincing ride is his ability to convey fear and courage simultaneously. Taylor's out of his depth. He's scared, but he's going on. Russell throws off the familiar guise, rejects showboat heroics and sweats for real. He's never been better.

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