Breakdown

    Breakdown
    1997

    Synopsis

    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.

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    Cast

    • Kurt RussellJeffrey 'Jeff' Taylor
    • J.T. WalshWarren 'Red' Barr
    • Kathleen QuinlanAmy Taylor
    • M.C. GaineyEarl
    • Jack NoseworthyBilly
    • Rex LinnSheriff Boyd
    • Ritch BrinkleyAl
    • Moira SiniseArleen Barr
    • Kim RobillardDeputy Len Carver
    • Thomas KopacheCalhoun

    Recommendations

    • 100

      San Francisco Chronicle

      Bucking the lava tide of computer special effects gushing out of Hollywood this season, the makers of Breakdown use old-fashioned ingenuity -- plus a compelling star, a fast- paced mystery and a deadpan villain -- to come up with a sizzler.
    • 90

      The New York Times

      His Breakdown is a tough, vigorous exercise in pure action, shot with throwback expertise and, most refreshingly, without special effects.
    • 90

      The A.V. Club

      Breakdown is just a skillfully constructed, smartly conceived, escapist thriller that does just about everything right.
    • 75

      Chicago Sun-Times

      Breakdown is a fine thriller, and its ending is unworthy of it.
    • 70

      Washington Post

      Jonathon Mostow, who wrote the script and then directed the movie, travels mostly familiar backroads and crosses bridges when he comes to them, actually managing a pretty good cliff-hanging denouement on the latter.
    • 60

      Washington Post

      The movie's surrender to banality is all the more dispiriting because it gets off to such a good start.
    • 50

      Chicago Reader

      Each set piece is effectively executed, but the characters and their motivations become progressively dimmer and more confused.
    • 50

      San Francisco Examiner

      When you really think about Breakdown - and believe me, that would probably require spending more time thinking about the movie than the filmmakers did - it doesn't make much sense.

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