Breakdown (1997)

★ 6.9 1h 33m 1,069 votes IMDb
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On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.

Breakdown

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Cast

Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell as Jeff Taylor Age 75 · Springfield, Massachusetts, USA Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. At 12, he began acting in the Western TV series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963–1964). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year con...
J.T. Walsh
J.T. Walsh as Warren 'Red' Barr Died 1998 · San Francisco, California, USA James Thomas Patrick 'J.T.' Walsh (September 28, 1943 - February 27, 1998) was an American actor. Known for his versatility and ability to play a wide range of characters, he had a successful career i...
Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Quinlan as Amy Taylor Age 71 · Pasadena, California, USA Kathleen Denise Quinlan Abbott (born November 19, 1954) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1977 film of the novel I Never P...
M.C. Gainey
M.C. Gainey as Earl Age 78 · Jackson, Mississippi, USA ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mike Connor Gainey (born January 18, 1948) is an American film and television actor whose distinctive mustache, 6'2½" height, and threatening look have given hi...
Jack Noseworthy
Jack Noseworthy as Billy Age 61 · Lynn, Massachusetts, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jack Noseworthy, Jr. (born December 21, 1964) is an American actor, whose most visible movie roles were perhaps A Place for Annie, Event Horizon and U-571. Jack...
Rex Linn
Rex Linn as Sheriff Boyd Age 69 · Spearman, Texas, USA Rex Maynard Linn (born November 13, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Sgt. Frank Tripp in the CBS drama CSI: Miami and Kevin Wachtell in the television series Better...

Audience Reviews

CRCulver 2/10 Sep 06, 2018
In <i>Breakdown</i>, Kurt Russell and Amy Quinlan play a wealthy New England couple who find horror in Iowa. While driving cross-country, their car breaks down. The various local people they meet who initially seem helpful are in fact criminals working together. The wife is kidnapped, the husband is told to pay half a million to get her back alive, and Kurt Russell decides he'd rather fight.

I found this a rather lame movie. Its believability goes way down when, for example, Kurt Russell rides on the bottom of a moving truck trailer and easily finds his way up to the cab. There are obvious continuity and other errors here: a villain gets a brutal rifle blast to his shoulder, but a few minutes later he's driving a car with no visible problems; a small child is shown playing video games (so it's early evening), but a few minutes later in the same scene dawn breaks.

About the only entertainment here is the acting of J.T. Walsh and M.C. Gainey, who are caricatures but fun ones. Kurt Russell, on the other hand, acts like he's not particularly happy to have taken this role, and is just going through the motions until he gets his paycheck.

I must say that the purported message, if any, of this film is intriguing. <i>Breakdown</i> seems to be suggesting that decent people from the coasts shouldn't venture into flyover country, since it is the den of rednecks who lie in wait for them. The forces behind this film clearly weren't interested in fairly portraying the Midwest.
John Chard 8/10 May 16, 2020
Super Thriller.

Breakdown is directed by Jonathan Mostow and Mostow co-writes the screenplay with Sam Montgomery. It stars Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh, M.C. Gainey, Kathleen Quinlan, Rex Linn, Jack Noseworthy and Ritch Brinkley. Music is by Basil Poledouris and cinematography by Douglas Milsome.

When his SUV breaks down on a remote Southwestern road, Jeff Taylor (Russell) lets his wife, Amy (Quinlan), 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...

Sometimes all you need is a an unflashy thriller that soars because it keeps it simple. Mostow's thriller is a nail biter, preposterous at times for sure, but with Jeff (Russell superb) frantically trying to find what has happened to his wife - out in the desert landscape of America - we get a guy we can totally root for. As the cards get dealt we come to be aware of scumbag predators in his midst, the suspense gets ramped up and we are never quite sure how it's all going to pan out.

This has no ideas above its station, and as the heat gets turned up bit by bit, come the thrilling finale you may find it's time to breath easy again... 8/10
JPV852 8/10 Sep 19, 2021
Simple but really solid suspense-thriller with some good sequences especially the finale with great car stunts. Not much to the performances or characters, but Kurt Russell was, as usual, good in the lead and J.T. Walsh sinister as the primary villain. **3.75/5**

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