This was a decent movie, and Kurt Russell and the main trucker guy help it a great deal with good acting. It has enough action and entertainment to keep the tension going throughout. However, it is quite silly in some ways, such as...1) Why would a man let his wife ride away with a trucker in the middle of a desert, without coming along? Because he is worried about his vehicle? In the middle of the desert? There were barely even any people in the area, and my wife's safety is much more important.2) All people in small towns or rural areas are evil rednecks that attack or inconvenience outsiders! Watch out! Any time you leave the safety of Massachusetts, you will be spotted by guys from Deliverance or farmers who want to steal your money and kill you. The truckers and rednecks in the film are hilarious, though some of it feels realistic at times. I feel safer in areas like this than big cities full of crime, though. Why would everyone in a small town treat you like crap? Because you are wearing nice clothes? Most folks are glad for tourism dollars or at least a few of them would try to help you in a bad time.3) What is the obsession with Kurt having a "rich" car? LOL. This was funny. The rednecks keep mentioning how they knew he had money because he has a Jeep Cherokee with a CD changer and some (now-basic) features. You can tell this was made in the 90s, if a Jeep with a nice radio is considered wealthy! This point is made several times, and just makes me laugh. Yes, even in the 90s, if you had a Jeep and some khaki pants, you probably are the CEO of a major corporation.4) Kill the stupid, evil people when you have the chance! Stop letting a guy threaten you, kidnap you and your wife, assault you both, and attempt to murder you, and then keep holding them at gun point or tying them up to escape later. This is just so ridiculously stupid in most suspense movies.5) This is the funniest part to me. The kidnappers think he has $90,000 in an account, and they are willing to kill for it. Here's the deal, though-- at least 4 or more guys are involved in the plot. So, a man with a profitable trucking business, a nice 2-story house, a huge farm, lots of equipment and barns, etc. is willing to risk his family and kidnapping/murder charges for like a year's salary, when you divide the money among the goons?????? What sense does this make? The other losers might be believable, as they look like simple-minded white trash that live in a single wide and smoke meth, but the main antagonist just has too much too lose for this. They should have written a plot where he desperately needed the money up front for something, or had some young punks pull off the crime. Red just didn't make much sense risking his neck for 30 grand.

Once upon a time "Breakdown" would have been considered nothing more than a B-Movie but the kind of B-Movie that might have gone on to become a classic. It's a very simple little suspense movie and it's beautifully directed by Jonathan Mostow. It's also something of a road-movie which, like Spielberg's "Duel" generates a good deal of suspense from its use of great open spaces and the interplay between a guy in a car (Kurt Russell) and a guy in a truck (J. T. Walsh). Russell is perfect as the slightly arrogant hero and Walsh is suitably menacing as the guy who may or may not be behind the disappearence of Russell's wife. Cult movie status beckons.

Breakdown (1997): Dir: Jonathan Mostow / Cast: Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan, J.T. Walsh, M.C. Gainey, Jack Noseworthy: Chilling film that echos The Vanishing only this film has the added advantage of being a much better film. The title is physically referring to the condition of a vehicle as well as the breakdown of mind and emotion. Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan are vacationing when their vehicle breaks down. Quinlan accepts a ride from a trucker while Russell awaits a tow truck. When she is not at a given destination, Russell and a cop stop the truck but the trucker claims that he has never seen them before. Uncertainty lies at its very core as viewers are not sure what Russell will find. Director Jonathan Mostow provides tension although the conclusion falters with justified violence just to satisfy a hunger that perhaps should be examined first. Russell delivers one of his best performances as a man striving for survival while searching frantically for his wife. Quinlan is appealing in a brief role. The film all depends upon her fate and how it creates turmoil in Russell's mind. J.T. Walsh steals scenes as a trucker who may or may not be responsible for Quinlan's disappearance. There are nasty truckers in the film but they are seen more as thugs than personalities. The film is well made despite wayward elements within its plot solution. It is a vacationer's nightmare. Score: 8 ½ / 10

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.