Breakdown (1997)

Average rating

(65%)

Starring:	Kurt Russell \| J.T. Walsh \| Kathleen Quinlan \| Jack Noseworthy \| M.C. Gainey
Director:	Jonathon Mostow
Studio:	20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time:	89 mins
Collections:	100 Horror Films
Genres:	Thriller
Languages:	English
Dubbed:	French
Hearing-impaired:	English
Subtitles:	Dutch, French
Released:	June 30, 2003
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After their new Jeep conks out on a desolate stretch of Arizona highway, a well-heeled Massachusetts couple accepts the help of a polite and seemingly honest trucker (J.T. Walsh), who drives the wife (Kathleen Quinlan) to a diner while the husband (Kurt Russell) stays behind to protect the vehicle. After saying goodbye, the husband gets two surprises--the Jeep starts, and his wife never actually arrived at the diner. What's more, the trucker doesn't recollect having picked her up at all. This taut suspense film, directed by Jonathan Mostow, is light on special-effects bombasticism and heavy on the old-fashioned Hitchcockian chills.

Highest rated reviews

6 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Simple but fun

David from Cambridge, England, 14th September, 2003

I didn't really know what this was when i went to see it, just happened to catch it at the cinema, but i'm really glad i did. It's basically about this guy who's car breaks down in the desert while he's travelling with his wife. A trucker stops and gives her a lift, but never comes back, and later Kurt Russel gets his car started and finds the trucker, but the trucker denies any knowledge of ever having met him, or his wife. The build-up is really gradual, with only a few hints of hostility and weirdness which add to the mystery of what happens later. Kurt Russel is really good - it's not his usual brawny role, on the contrary, he comes across as quite an ineffectual and weedy city type, dressed in chinos and polo shirts while cruising in his Air conditiond SUV. It's a testament to him that he never lets the character become a latter-day action man, instead he's just a regular guy frantically trying to find his wife in the face of increasing threat and danger. While the 'mystery' proves to be pretty straightforward, and a little unlikely, it still manages to create a few scenes which are quite upsetting, but it's in the final act that the film comes alive. It manages to produce some incredible and thrilling action, with lots of tension, but without big effects or outlandish set-pieces. The director just keeps piling on the pressure until a nail-biting finale. It's not your typical blockbuster, but is all the better for it - an above average, intelligent thriller which doesn't disappoint.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:

A GREAT film, rent it now!!

Johnwriter from Tyne and Wear, 21st December, 2004

This movie has to be one of the best action packed films I've ever seen.

And the best thing is, I watched it with my 68-year-old mother by my side, and she loved it too. There's no sex, or rubbish slow bits. And there is so much action in this film, you daren't leave the room to make a cup of tea. Just put on PAUSE! Kurt Russell is brilliant in this film, and I would have to say it is the BEST movie he has EVER made. But all the actors are excellent, and the ending is so Hollywood but also so gripping.

You won't regret renting this flick!

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