Breakdown (1997) Online

This film is really cool. Basically, a man and wife are travelling and fall victim to some very shady people in a cat and mouse game. As the film progresses, we get plenty of things you would expect if you were in this position yourself, like the people at the diner, and the involvement of the police, who politely inform you that they can't help any further after not much has been done. The scene in the police station where Jeffrey is looking at all the missing people made me wonder: 'how many of these people were involved with the trucker?'.

He involves the police but as I say they can't really do much, but he's not really all that concerned with those who suspect he's lying; he's concerned with the people who know he's telling the truth!!

The film also gives you the kind of scenes you need in order to stay interested and 'into it' so to speak, there are great plot twists here and there accompanied by some great acting and very fine action sequences. The scene in the truck with the great M.C Gainey's dialogue about how dumb Jeffrey is raises a lot of questions. The scene in the barn near the end is a real eye opener, when you see all the license plates and items of clothing and so on in boxes hidden in the top of the barn, whose are those? Also when Billy talks briefly about 'that couple in Ohio'. Have they done this thing a lot before?

Truly great film all around, you never get bored and you can rarely guess what will happen next! I must also compliment J.T. Walsh for giving a great performance as Red Barr, and Rex Linn for his great cameo as the police officer. You know how sometimes you start playing with your phone or keep looking at your watch? Oh no, not this time pal! Great acting, great action, great plot, I'm loving it!! 10/10

Every time Kurt Russell is in something you can always rely on a solid film. And once again in Breakdown you will not be disappointed. A solid cast with great directing makes this a must see. A great thriller that keeps you second guessing until the end which I love. Russell always puts in the full 100 percent and it shows here again. Why can't actors do what he does like this anymore. Good performances all around make this a tight entertaining watch that you will feel you have not wasted your almost 2 hours. A fast paced thriller that hits the mark at every turn. See this one and you will see how the 90s had great suspenseful films lacking today.

Within the first few minutes, I could tell this movie was a good one. Why? Because the characters choose appropriate actions based on their motives. Here's a few examples:

(Spoilers ahead)

When Kurt Russell confronts the guy in the truck at the gas station in the very beginning, and his wife asks him what who he was, in a bad movie he would have said no one. Here he explains that it was the same guy from before, which makes sense.

It doesn't make sense at first when Russell refuses the ride from the trucker, but it is subtly revealed that he doesn't want to leave his car alone. This leads to his wife going off alone, but only after she forces the issue. Russell's motivations here make perfect sense for his actions.

After Russell tapes up the bad guy and is pulled over by the cop, in a bad movie he would have put his gun in the cop's face and tied him up too. Instead, he surrendered and asked for help, just like a reasonable person would.

When Russell latches onto the back of JT Walsh's truck, there's a dramatic sequence where he clings to the bottom of the truck as he makes his way to the front. In a bad movie, this would have led to him climbing into the cab, wresting control of the truck and forcing Walsh to reveal the location of his wife. Instead, he was taking the sensible and important step of getting to a safe and comfortable place to spend the hours-long ride.

Throughout the movie, Russell tries to call for help. In most movies like this, if an attempt is even made to actually use the police, they are invariably disdainful of strangers, in on it, or both. In the brief period where Russell thinks the cops are in on it, he tries to reach an FBI agent. Apart from the period immediately after the cop got shot, he constantly tries to get police help, just like a thinking human being would.

These and many other small things are examples of the screenwriters giving characters reasonable motives in unreasonable situations and allowing the action to unfold. In too many action movies the main character forces the plot with completely irrational behavior. The main character here reacts to the plot evenly with the audience, and it makes him a much more sympathetic hero than the typical action movie.

Boy, do I have quite the story on my search for this movie. I first saw this on late night television around 2000 when I was about 14. I loved the movie, but I didn't know what the title was and my parents didn't have cable or a TV guide. So I took it in my own hands to find the movie, no matter how long it took or how I got it. I searched every video store in my town. And I mean everything. Every blockbuster, Hollywood Video, every back section of a grocery store, everything. After five unsuccessful years of searching, I gave up. But two years later, in 2007, I got back into it. Nothing again for two years. So after giving up on that, I decided to use Yahoo Answers. I finally got it.... after three tries.

To be finished at a later date.

Kurt Russell is excellent in this taunt, thrilling, non-stop action film. Russell plays Jeff, a husband who has to get his wife back after she's abducted by a trucker after their jeep breaks down and she accepts a ride from him. Every actor is almost pitch perfect for the parts they play and the movie was very enjoyable. J.T. Walsh is suitably menacing as Red,in my mind, but this IS Kurt's movie through and through. Mr. Russell has to be one of my favorite actors working today. And this film has to be one of the best 'Chase for family member' type movie in the last decade..HIGHLY recommended

My Grade: A

Where I saw it: HBO plus

"Breakdown" is a nice little movie that is straightforward, has characters you truly care about, has a simple setup. And it never flags. And it keeps you guessing. Those are good qualities for movies, especially actioners and thrillers, and ones with this kind of premise. And the film has just enough characters (no more than it needs to have) to keep you involved. If the cops were any help, then there wouldn't be much of a story. It also doesn't take itself too seriously. The bad guys here are interesting, but perhaps if there were only one villain, then the movie could have been longer. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrillers that accomplishes a lot.

***1/2 out of ****

Jonathan Mostow, before he went on to helm the big-budget U-571 and the even bigger budgeted Terminator 3, brought out this taut little thriller and cemented a reputation he's yet to really live up to (though some would disagree about that). His film has that tag-line, but it's not entirely accurate, even though it has a very familiar and eerily recognizable threat at the core: the outsiders coming in to a territory that is very close knit and practically inbred, where one wrong step could cost you and/or your loved ones lives. In this case, Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan are the married couple caught in the cross-hairs of kidnapping, blackmail, and ultimately vengeance. They're moving from Massachusets to San Diego, and driving on through the desert they get side-swiped by a car, then later on after a near-altercation at a pit-stop, they move on only for the couple's car to breakdown. Help comes in the form of a trucker, who offers help for to drive the wife to get a tow-truck. No need for the truck, anyway, because the car didn't have much wrong with it...but what about the wife, Amy?

From there on in, Mostow takes Breakdown into the realm of paranoid thriller, then into just full-on chase/action/revenge/chase again picture. One might wonder if there could be a more noirish quality to it if the wife actually left for a reason other than abduction, though the path that Mostow takes the story is fine as it is. He keeps things simple in the story sense, with elements of the Western thrown in, but also makes it very much character-based as well. Russell's performance as Jeff Taylor is kind of the opposite of his recent turn as Stuntman Mike in Grindhouse: starting off as the average-Joe who tries to be polite, albeit from a yuppie background, he gets put to the test by the enormity of the situation, and finally becomes a real take-no-prisoners hero. Towards the very end it almost reaches the point of being TOO much of hitting over the head with payback, and there are little things regarding the nature of Red Barr (JT Walsh, great villainous presence in a real sinister, calm way) and his ties to the town as to whether or not things are really as controlling as they might be (i.e. the bank scene, which is perfectly acted, though not entirely feasible in the paranoid sense).

But all this aside, what Breakdown remains ten years after is a competent, un-pretentious thrill-ride where the dialog is never too heavy, the action is packed with real stunts and few special effects, and some of the brighter moments for Russell in recent years (or rather, the last ten). It knows what it is, and has the professional temerity of a cult effort.

I spent this Christmas 2004 in Hungary, and watched Breakdown on TV the other night. Yes it was dubbed into Hungarian, but I'd already seen the film in the cinema a few years ago. And you know what? I was still as thrilled watching it in Hungarian as when I saw it in the cinema. Why? Because it tells its story mostly in visuals, this for me is the real power of a good film, using the images to tell the tale.

Kurt Russell is outstanding as the bewildered husband seeking his kidnapped wife, and yes while it reminded me of the superb Dutch film The Vanishing (the original 1988 version not the terrible Hollywood remake), and at times Spielberg's Duel, it still has a real freshness about it, with some great photography and direction.

Well worth a look, possibly Russell's best performance. 9/10

It takes a lot for me to designate a thriller as utterly and completely mesmerizing, but such is the case with the 1997 Kurt Russell vehicle Breakdown. I stumbled upon this gem when it was released on VHS some 10+ years ago, and, as I recently browsed the somewhat deflated selection of films available in my "Watch Instantly" Netflix queue, decided to give it another go. Once again diving headlong into this ballet of desert highway carnage was like getting reacquainted with an old friend; consequently, this has caused me to lament the stale-by- comparison state of many recent "road rage thrillers" offered up by Hollywood.

If you've never seen Breakdown, it could be described as a more intelligent version of Joy Ride (or, perhaps, The Hitcher). It's about a married couple named Jeff (Russell) and Amy (Quinlan) who are driving cross country—from Boston to San Diego—to take on more lucrative employment opportunities. Along the way, they almost collide with a local in a pick-up truck on a remote desert highway. When they stop at the next gas station, the fella driving the truck—a black-clad hombre with a handlebar mustache and a cowboy hat—proceeds to chew out Jeff for his idiotic behavior behind the wheel. The two eventually call a truce, part ways, and go about their lives. It's not long, however, before Jeff's brand new Jeep inexplicably breaks down. As the couple is trying to assess the situation, a man in an 18-wheeler stops, offers assistance, and eventually ends up suggesting the pair ride with him to the nearest town so they can call a tow truck. Jeff is leery about leaving his car on the side of a highway with a local lunatic on the prowl, so Amy hops in the semi, presumably to wait for her husband at a diner as he figures out what to do. Once she leaves, Jeff discovers the problem, fixes the car, and heads to the diner. When he gets there, though, Amy is nowhere to be found. The locals have no idea who she is, and they all claim to have never seen her. What ensues is a maddeningly wild goose chase across barren southwestern terrain as Jeff does everything in his power to find his spouse.

There are twists and turns aplenty, and the action is great. The most disturbing thing about the film is how genuine it all seems. I have no trouble believing that something like this could (and perhaps has) occur in such remote locales, and there's a real sense of desperation to everything that's unfolding. Russell is great as the panicked husband who knows he's going to have to take things to the extreme to get his wife back, and almost—almost—every one of his decisions seems completely rational. The movie does give way to certain conventions from time to time, and I wish it would've built up the paranoia just a little longer before the "big reveal" occurs (a la Arlington Road), but there's no denying the intensity on display here.

That being said, who's ready for a road trip?

Too often, movies that start with an intriguing set-up disappoint when it gets to the pay-off as they either simply drift into sheer absurdity or else provide an explanation that lacks any kind of credibility. To its great credit, "Breakdown" doesn't fall into this trap as its set-up provides the introduction to an extremely entertaining action thriller that's full of twists, mystery and suspense. This is an unpretentious film that because of the strength of its plot, some good acting performances and a few well orchestrated action sequences, easily keeps its audience fully engrossed from start to finish.

Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) and his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan) are a middle class couple from Boston who are on a cross country journey to a new life in San Diego when they have the misfortune to break down on a desert road far from anywhere. Fortuitously, help soon arrives in the form of an affable looking truck driver called Red Barr (J T Walsh) who offers them a lift to a diner some miles down the road. Amy readily accepts this offer so that she can phone for help but Jeff decides to stay with their vehicle which is a very new looking red Jeep Cherokee.

After a little time has elapsed, Jeff discovers that the cause of the breakdown was some disconnected wires that are hanging loose below the front of the car. He easily reconnects them and then travels on to the diner where he makes enquiries about his wife. The disinterested and rather unfriendly locals say they haven't seen Amy or Red.

A little while later, Jeff catches up with Red's rig and gets him to stop but to his amazement, Red denies knowing him or Amy. Jeff then waves down a passing sheriff called Boyd (Rex Linn) and explains what's happened but after making a few checks and talking to the very plausible Red, Boyd is unable to help any further and suggests that Jeff should visit his deputy to report his wife missing. Jeff follows Boyd's advice but this turns out to be just the start of his long and very dangerous search for his missing wife.

As the audience sees the unfolding events through Jeff's eyes, it makes his frustration, anger and fear very real and it also becomes impossible not to empathise with the terrifying predicament that he's in. There's also an ominous sense of paranoia that develops as the universal lack of concern or help that he receives starts to make his experience appear to be part of a conspiracy and leads one to question how close the links are between Red, Boyd and the unsympathetic people at the diner. When the story moves beyond this point, the reality of what's happening soon becomes horrifyingly clear.

Kurt Russell very convincingly conveys the mixture of emotions that Jeff goes through during what can only be described as a nightmare scenario and also remains credible as he tackles the various challenges that he encounters. The supporting cast is also very good with J T Walsh and M C Gainey providing the strongest contributions. Kathleen Quinlan does well in her role but has little opportunity to show the extent of her talent due to the limited amount of screen time that she's given.

This is great! The action and intensity never let up for a second. Kurt Russell gives a riveting performance as the hero in search of his missing wife, and JT Walsh is a fine bad guy.

You will keep yourself on the edge of your seat the entire time and will not want to turn it off, even at the end. It's that good. I promise.

If you like intensity and good movies, rent this one. You will not regret it.

*** out of ****

The very best action packed suspense dramatic thriller I have ever seen. Throughout my life I have seen about twelve thousand movies, so that actually is saying something. I can't believe that I never saw this movie until today. Wish I had seen it in the theatre.

Jeff and Amy Taylor are moving from the east coast to the west coast and have a breakdown some sixty miles outside of the town that progress forgot. A friendly truck driver offers to help and gives Amy a ride to town while Jeff stays behind to watch the SUV. He notices the actual problem with his car's engine, a minor one that he can fix, and gets under way to meet up with his wife. When he gets to the diner where Amy is supposed to be calling for a tow truck, she is not there. Where is Amy? Where is the trucker who helped her? Why are people shooting at Jeff?

BUZZ WORDS THAT I'VE HEARD APPLIED TO OTHER MOVIES, WHICH GENERALLY DISAPPOINT, BUT ARE ACCURATE FOR THIS ONE:

Breakdown is an edge of your seat, adrenaline pumping and heart stopping in your face cinematic thrill ride that will leave you breathless and begging for more pulse pounding, jaw dropping excitement; and then it delivers with a finale that will leave you teetering on the edge of eternity chewing on someone else's fingernails.

If you only have the opportunity to see one action flick in your lifetime, THIS HAS TO BE IT!

Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) and Amy Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan) are a couple who are moving to San Diego.Their car breaks down in a desert.Amy goes along with a truck driver to call some help from the diner.But she never comes back.Jeff drives all around the desert looking for his wife and he asks some people for his wife, but everybody says they haven't seen her.What has happened to Amy?Watch the movie and find out.Breakdown is totally worth checking out.Kurt Russell's performance is amazing and the other actors are great too. Breakdown is a thrilling action thriller, that keeps the suspense on every second of the movie.

Real gripping thriller, Russell though tends to be a bit of a wimp to start with then starts getting angry, the storyline is good but some of the scenarios are a little disbelieving and you will tend to keep saying things like "How come he has managed to escape and chase them so easily?" "How come she did that?" etc

The scenery is real nice, fans of road movies will be pleased too with the New Mexico landscapes and long quiet roads.

Worth a watch! We go into real redneck territory here also. I would like to criticise some of the acting though, the delivery of some of the lines tends to be a tad wooden in places (not so much from Russell) but I don't suppose the all non-star cast could expect Oscars.

Jeff and Amy Taylor are moving (Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan) to a new place and area, to attempt to preserve their work lives and bring some stability to the world they know. Happily chatting along the way, they run into a small 'snag' their vehicle, has a break down. Over heating and somewhat confused by the incident, Jeff and Amy push the vehicle off the road and collect their wits, trying to figure out a workable plan that will keep them moving and allow them to split up to get two things done and save a lot of after hassles. A Peterbuilt semi truck pulls up behind and then over, a kindly middle aged 'good' Samaritan driver asks if they need assistance? Sure enough, the vehicle has overheated and they need to make it into the next town...one of them, the other staying with the vehicle, so nothing will happened to it.

What happens next is terrifying. People, trusting others to help-out in time of need, run desperately amok. Disasterously Jeff makes it into town to find that his lovely little wife, somehow, never arrived?! Kurt Russell is and brings out an award winning performance of a man in terror. As he is back on the road, he sees the kindly old driver who assisted he and his wife! Jeff pulls up beside 'Red' on the highway motioning Red to pull over and Red just looks at him as if he is stranger. Jeff calls in the local Police, though all the while interred into the problem and sympathetic, nothing gets changed, because Red acts as though he has never seen Jeff and tells the officer the same thing. Jeff is emotionally upside down now!! He feels alone and out numbered by professional kidnappers. As he is moving along, he is contacted. Pursued by a big man named Earl, who ends up being the go-between for the ransom and the party that has mysteriously 'snatched' his woman.

Jeff is now insulted, by the transfer and subsequent abduction of himself by the collector, that something inside Jeff that probably has never been used, breaks down. Jeff Taylor is now on the other side of the law, he is just trying to survive In this game.

Russell excels as Jeff Taylor and Kathleen ain't far behind in this who dun-nit, thriller-roller-coaster ride. The late J.T. Walsch is the front-man screw-setter for the other part of the gang that will turn the screws harder to Jeff and Amy.

This one deserves ten of ten for an exhaustingly great mix of emotion, fear, aggressive action and anger, that will set the movie goer on the edge of the seat! I recommend this for those that want to get unhinged by a dramatic pounding thrill packed 2 hours. And the strangest part is, it all started over a package of 'Snow Balls'. (****)

An action-suspense R-rated movie featuring Kurt Russell and a bunch of evil kidnappers and extortioners who keep you riveted to your seat wondering what is going to happen next.

The story has no lulls and when it's over, you're worn out because of the high intensity action start-to-finish. It's actually a little too much.

Yes, it has it's implausible parts, and the language - mainly by Russell - could be cleaned up considerably - but it's so involving a story you get lost in it. It's decently filmed, too, particularly with the desert scenery in the beginning. J. T. Walsh makes an excellent villain, too.

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.

This is a really brilliant film. From the opening scene, and the overlying music, this gives the appearance of being made by someone who knows what they're doing. Step forward and take a bow, Jonathan Mostow and Basil Poledouris. Apparently this is the second score, as the first one was rejected.

Kathleen Quinlan is excellent as Amy Taylor and Kurt Russell as husband Jeff. But really there isn't a weak point in the cast.

The cinematography is excellent. The pacing and development of the story is first rate. One of the film's strengths is that you're never really sure who is a good guy and who's in on the act. I guess I could have done without some of the ridiculous actionman stuff in the latter stages. It would have been a better thriller if it concentrated on the psychological, which is sort of how it started.

But overall you just can't stop watching it, and that's the hallmark of a good thriller. Nine out of ten.

I just saw this movie again for the first time since it was released in '97 and it was just as scary now as ever before. I love the open road and enjoy long drives but after recently watching this movie again I may have to re think my love of the open highway! Yikes!! Kurt Russell is great in this film as the hapless husband who tries to rescue his wife from the group of crazies who are holding her for ransom. But without spoiling the plot, this movie does remind me of one of the other really scary rod trip movie Wolf Creek. Both movie have slightly similar overtones of nutty backwoods (or back roads) people who kidnap innocent passerbys. This movie held me to the edge of my seat due to the suspenseful plot. Check it out but be sure to lock your car doors and check the rear view mirror!

BREAKDOWN is one of those lower-budgeted, under-the-radar type movies which pop up on late night television to hook and fascinate you. In essence, it's a B-movie with a better cast than usual; one of those films I saw and liked years and years ago and which has stayed with me ever since. I recently revisited the film on DVD and was surprised to discover that it's actually an excellent little action/mystery/thriller and one of my all-time favourites.

The ever under-appreciated Kurt Russell stars as that classic archetype, the ordinary guy, who finds himself out of his depth when his wife goes missing after hitching a ride with a seemingly kindly trucker. I won't spoil what happens after that, only to saw that the screenplay is absolutely loaded with suspense. Truly, you could hear a pin drop as I sat watching this film, riveted to the screen; the bank scene is the real highlight, but the later antics pay off nicely too. Things culminate with a nicely directed action scene featuring some great car stunts. I'd put this film up with the best of Hitchcock, and that's no joke; it's the type of film I could start watching again straight after finishing, I enjoy it that much.

Much of the film's success comes from the casting of Russell, whose acting adds immeasurably to the experience. He's one of those instantly identifiable and likable actors who you end up rooting for from the outset, even in more conflicted roles like the one he played in corrupt cop yarn DARK BLUE. If only Tarantino's DEATH PROOF had been more like this movie! Instead, the directorial duties are handled by Jonathan Mostow, his debut picture, and he does a wonderful job. I equally enjoyed his follow-up films, U-571 and even TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES, although I'll admit that SURROGATES was a little lacking in the substance stakes. J. T. Walsh also does a nice job in a supporting role, and it's fun to see M. C. Gainey given something larger than a cameo for a change.

It's 2012 and I just happened to catch this 1997 movie on a quiet morning in a motel. After 5 minutes I was hooked. To me the best thing about Breakdown is its real-life portrayal of ordinary people undergoing a sudden trauma. The second best thing is the non-stop action. But Kurt Russell in particular does a great job acting a man facing up to evil situation, and his gradual adjustment. In a typical tough-guy beat-em-up movie, the hero would be taking control of the situation right away. But in Breakdown, the bad guys have the upper hand, and a nearly fool-proof plan for getting away with extortion and likely murder. Russell at first is confused what is happening, then when the villains demand the money, he is finally able to think of his alternatives. All the while his face shows his torn emotions, still not quite believing what has happened to him, fighting panic, but forcing himself to think clearly. As the story moves along, he realizes these guys may actually plan to kill both of them even after they get the ransom, which is a whole new dilemma. He can swear to vent his frustration but that is about it. No heroics will save his wife until the time is right, and Russell shows that agony in those moments he has to submit to the kidnappers. JT Barr also makes a great cold-blooded villain, maintaining his cool from the start. And Quinlain, who I love as an actress (think Apollo 13) doesn't have a big role but she plays it perfectly. See this movie for a lesson in how good actors can overcome a middle budget movie and make it well worth watching.

This an highly entertaining movie full of action and suspense.that will have you on the edge of your seat.Kurt Russell gives an oustanding performance being the hero of the movie.what The plot of the movie is Jeff Taylor and his wife Amy are moving to another state driving cross country,Jeff takes his eyes off the road for a second he nearly side wipes a dusty pickup truck. soon after he pulls into a gas station to fill up,just as anything could get worse Jeff is confronted by the driver of the pickup who's looking for trouble.Jeff quickly leaves the gas station to put some distance between him and the driver of the pickup,then all of sudden their car breaks down a friendly trucker stops to assist them,he wants to drive them to a pay phone so they can call a tow truck but Jeff decides to stay and look after the car while his wife Amy goes with the trucker.He soon finds out that Amy has been kidnapped and being held for ransom so Jeff must use the best of his knowledge to outsmart these goons.

I love this movie; watch it from time to time cause of the action, suspense, drama and the excellent acting. It just goes to show you that there are some crazy people out there that can do that to anybody so, people have to be careful. Never leave your vehicle unattended, and also never take a ride from a stranger no matter what.

The bad guys really played their parts really well, especially the trucker; when he helps out the couple, offers a ride to them but, only the wife accepts, and then when he meets the guy again; pretends like he never saw him before; he does it with a straight face, and really convincing; that was excellent.

I definitely recommend this movie to anybody who enjoys a good action, suspense, drama movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

"Man, am I exhausted."

That was the comment I made after watching 1997s summer sleeper Breakdown. This is the kind of movie that works so well and moves so fast that despite moments of plausibility, it won't give you time to think or even care about such things.

In the beginning we see a happily married couple Jeff & Amy Taylor (played to the cue by Kurt Russell & Kathleen Quinlan)hitting the open road. After leaving a gas station (where I will never leave the hood of my car propped up again) their Jeep Cherokee breaks down and do the the fact that they are in the middle of nowhere their cell phones are out of range to call for help.

Coincidently, (perhaps)? a trucker named 'Red' (the late and very talented J.T. Walsh) happen to drive by to offer assistance and Jeff (in his one weak moment but nobody's perfect) agrees to let his wife hitch a ride to the nearest town while he waits behind.

Tick tock, tick tock. Time starts to get the best of Jeff and in a state of mild panic he inspects the SUV and discovers a few loosened wires which turns out to be the reason the Jeep stalled, and then yep, it's now running like a dream. (I was expecting something like that since it's doubtful the makers of Jeep Cherokee would allow anything else).

Now things are getting bad. Jeff arrives in town only to discover that Amy never arrived and nobody has scene a thing. While in the restaurant one drunk suggests he checks the ladies room so Jeff does but only to discover a woman vomiting in the toilet.

The plot takes an interesting turn when Jeff spots Red speeding down the freeway and though he successfully pulls him over expecting to find Amy Barr's reply is "I'm sorry, but I've never seen you before in my life." The police arrive at the scene and are sympathetic, but can't offer any real assistance without proof.

What works so well in Breakdown is writer/director Jonathan Mostow has made a movie that is not only exciting and thrilling but SMART TOO. Like a lot of movies, the good guy tends to do so many stupid and unmotivated things (see Jurassic Park 3 for proof) that eventually I start rooting for the bad guy. I also liked Russell's character Jeff a lot and admired his determination on not giving up to rescue Amy. And the final chase sequence is the best I've seen since Steve McQueens brilliant film, 'Bullitt."

Jolly good show Jonathan.

You can't take your eyes off the screen, and for the first two thirds of "Breakdown" what you see is relentlessly downbeat. Kurt Russell is excellent as the bewildered husband trying to find his kidnapped wife. Several factors drive the film to greatness. It is very exciting from start to finish, the staccato drum score is great, and above all J.T. Walsh and the rest of the kidnappers are fierce and unforgettable villains. The car chase action sequences add immeasurably, rather than just being meaningless filler, as in so many action movies. Everything about "Breakdown" works, and it deserves to be seen and revered as great entertainment. - MERK