Picture this: A married couple is driving somewhere in the middle of America and nearly sideswipe a pickup truck. After stopping for gas they keep going when there car suddenly stops. They're clueless until a friendly truck driver offers a lift to the nearest diner.The wife goes and never comes back.
Now picture that the couple is Jeff and Amy Taylor(Kurt Russell & Kathleen Quinlan), and they're taking the scenic route from Boston to San Diego. They nearly hit a dirty black pickup truck and then stop for gas. They are confronted by the driver and at that point the suspense slowly starts building. Then trying to distance themselves from the pickup, they crank there brand new SUV up to full speed and drive away. But since its a new car it overheats and breaks down. Then a friendly truck driver comes along offering to give them a lift to Belle's Diner where they can call a tow truck. Amy takes the ride while Jeff stays with the car. After a while Jeff gets the car working and goes to Belle's. When arrives he is informed no one there has ever heard of his wife.
From that point on the suspense hits full blast as every scene is used to pump every last bit of suspense out of it. Eventhough the storyline is nothing original and just sounds like a changed version of The Vanishing(1988 one not the remake) and the characters are quite thin this movie is still unbearably suspenseful. Jonathan Mostow the director borrows from a number of movies quite heavily. You have the crazy truck driver from Duel, the psycho hillbilly's from Deliverance and the missing wife from The Vanishing.
What makes this movies so much better than the countless other missing-wife thrillers is first of all Jeff doesn't seem like a Schwarzenegger or Stallone and we really do believe this is all happening to him. As played by Kurt Russell Jeff is like Jon Voight's character in Deliverance, at first scared and by end he is pushed to fight back. Kurt Russell really makes Jeff a believable character because you could tell that the fear is for real and that the sweat is real. Another plus in Breakdown is how real the villains seem. It seems that they have other lives and at no point do we doubt that they mean business.
The only real letdown this movies has is the ending, which I won't describe for those who haven't seen the movie. But just to say the ending changes pace from the rest of the movie. Other than that this is by far one of the most suspenseful thrillers i've seen in many years. I believe this is one movie that you can mention in the same breath as Deliverance or Duel. Great Movie 9/10
Now picture that the couple is Jeff and Amy Taylor(Kurt Russell & Kathleen Quinlan), and they're taking the scenic route from Boston to San Diego. They nearly hit a dirty black pickup truck and then stop for gas. They are confronted by the driver and at that point the suspense slowly starts building. Then trying to distance themselves from the pickup, they crank there brand new SUV up to full speed and drive away. But since its a new car it overheats and breaks down. Then a friendly truck driver comes along offering to give them a lift to Belle's Diner where they can call a tow truck. Amy takes the ride while Jeff stays with the car. After a while Jeff gets the car working and goes to Belle's. When arrives he is informed no one there has ever heard of his wife.
From that point on the suspense hits full blast as every scene is used to pump every last bit of suspense out of it. Eventhough the storyline is nothing original and just sounds like a changed version of The Vanishing(1988 one not the remake) and the characters are quite thin this movie is still unbearably suspenseful. Jonathan Mostow the director borrows from a number of movies quite heavily. You have the crazy truck driver from Duel, the psycho hillbilly's from Deliverance and the missing wife from The Vanishing.
What makes this movies so much better than the countless other missing-wife thrillers is first of all Jeff doesn't seem like a Schwarzenegger or Stallone and we really do believe this is all happening to him. As played by Kurt Russell Jeff is like Jon Voight's character in Deliverance, at first scared and by end he is pushed to fight back. Kurt Russell really makes Jeff a believable character because you could tell that the fear is for real and that the sweat is real. Another plus in Breakdown is how real the villains seem. It seems that they have other lives and at no point do we doubt that they mean business.
The only real letdown this movies has is the ending, which I won't describe for those who haven't seen the movie. But just to say the ending changes pace from the rest of the movie. Other than that this is by far one of the most suspenseful thrillers i've seen in many years. I believe this is one movie that you can mention in the same breath as Deliverance or Duel. Great Movie 9/10