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Paramount Pictures
Spelling Films
The De Laurentiis Company
Not part of a collection.
It could happen to you.
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.
JPV852
Sep 19, 2021 · via TMDB
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**
John Chard
May 16, 2020 · via TMDB
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
CRCulver
Sep 6, 2018 · via TMDB
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.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Kurt Russell
Jeff Taylor
J.T. Walsh
Warren 'Red' Barr
Kathleen Quinlan
Amy Taylor
M.C. Gainey
Earl
Jack Noseworthy
Billy
Rex Linn
Sheriff Boyd
Ritch Brinkley
Al
Moira Sinise
Arleen Barr
Kim Robillard
Deputy Len Carver
Thomas Kopache
Calhoun
Jack McGee
Bartender
Vincent Berry
Deke Barr
Gene Hartline
Tow Truck Driver
Rick Zieff
Producer (uncredited)
Dennis Liddiard
Key Makeup Artist
Richard Marvin
Additional Music
Pat Romano
Stunt Coordinator
John Casino
Stunt Double
Carey Loftin
Stunt Driver
Tom Glass
Stunt Driver
Bruce Paul Barbour
Stunts
Diana R. Lupo
Stunts
Eddy Donno
Stunts
Gene Hartline
Stunts
Hugh Aodh O'Brien
Stunts
John Casino
Stunts
Keii Johnston
Stunts
Kevin L. Jackson
Stunts
Mark Ginther
Stunts
Norm Compton
Stunts
Shane Dixon
Stunts
Steve Kelso
Stunts
Steve Picerni
Stunts
Sven-Ole Thorsen
Stunts
Troy Robinson
Stunts
Jonathan Mostow
Director
John Wildermuth
Second Unit First Assistant Director
Lisa Mozden
Assistant Editor
Barbara Harris
ADR Voice Casting
Rick Zieff
Casting Assistant
Dino De Laurentiis
Producer
Basil Poledouris
Conductor
Basil Poledouris
Original Music Composer
Jonathan Mostow
Screenplay
Jonathan Mostow
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