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Breakdown

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6.9/10 • 966

1997-05-021h 33m

CrimeMysteryThrillerActionDrama

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.

Directors
Jonathan Mostow
Editors
Kevin Stitt

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Kurt Russell

    Kurt Russell

    Jeff Taylor

  2. J. T. Walsh

    J. T. Walsh

    Warren 'Red' Barr

  3. Kathleen Quinlan

    Kathleen Quinlan

    Amy Taylor

  4. M.C. Gainey

    M.C. Gainey

    Earl

  5. Jack Noseworthy

    Jack Noseworthy

    Billy

  6. Rex Linn

    Rex Linn

    Sheriff Boyd

  7. Ritch Brinkley

    Ritch Brinkley

    Al

  8. Moira Sinise

    Moira Sinise

    Arleen Barr

  9. Kim Robillard

    Kim Robillard

    Deputy Len Carver

Reviews3

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CRCulver Avatar

CRCulver

Sep 6, 2018

2/10

In Breakdown, 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. Breakdown 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.

Media

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$36,000,000.00
Revenue
$50,159,144.00
Keywords
californiachaseransomkidnappingbankhighwaybarndinervacationdeceptiondonutmurderstrandedredneckextortioncaptivedeserttruck driver