Breakdown

Director: Jonathan Mostow Jonathan Mostow

Overview

Focusing more on building suspense than slam-bam action sequences, this taut thriller follows an ordinary man's struggle to locate his beloved wife, who simply vanished after a car breakdown led her to hitch a ride with a friendly trucker who later denies ever having seen her.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/26/2017
UPC:	0032429282309
Original Release:	1997
Rating:	R
Source:	PARAMOUNT
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:33:00
Sales rank:	11,386

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kurt Russell	Jeff Taylor
J.T. Walsh	Red Barr
Kathleen Quinlan	Amy Taylor
M.C. Gainey	Earl
Jack Noseworthy	Billy
Rex Linn	Sheriff Boyd
Ritch Brinkley	Al
Moira Harris	Arleen
Kim Robillard	Deputy Len Carver
Thomas Kopache	Calhoun
Jack McGee	Bartender
Vincent Berry	Deke
Helen Duffy	Flo
Ancel Cook	Barfly
Gene Hartline	Tow Truck Driver
Steve Waddinton	Cowboy in Bank
Rick Sanders	Truck Stop Trucker
Basil Poledouris	Composer

Technical Credits

Jonathan Mostow

Sam Montgomery

Jonathan Mostow	Director,Screenwriter
Dino De Laurentiis	Producer,Producer
James Arnett	Stunts
Sam Montgomery	Screenwriter
Seth Arnett	Stunts
Harry Colomby	Executive Producer
Jonathan Fernandez	Executive Producer
Carol Lewis	Casting
James Halty	Stunts
Felipe Borrero	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Never mind the B-movie premise, Breakdown is a real jolt of tension, involving the viewer from the start and providing satisfying twists through the end. Feeding off the viewer's secret fears of being stranded in a foreign, hostile environment, Breakdown utilizes a clean, lean script to depict the deterioration of Kurt Russell's henpecked mind. Anyone who's had a normal day unravel into a crisis will sympathize with Russell as he begins to recognize that his wife (Kathleen Quinlan) has vanished, and everyone who might help him lacks either the knowledge or the willingness to do so. Russell brilliantly harnesses the impotent anger that accompanies such a situation, especially when the great character actor J.T. Walsh stares him down and effortlessly shrugs off suspicion in front of a state trooper. Left to his own impulses -- those of a city type hopelessly out of his league -- Russell kicks off a wild, make-it-up-as-you-go strategy to locate his wife. His path, fueled by sweat and desperation, is always believable. Jonathan Mostow has crafted a solid thriller with minimum flash, all the more appreciable for its self-awareness and eagerness to work within human scale. By the time Mostow stages the showy climax, his prior restraint has earned him the right, and the armrest gripping is well deserved.