Rock solid thriller
 Sep 26th, 2006
Advantages:
Great opening that leaves you wanting more
Disadvantages:
Slow in parts
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
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  bigmike33
About me:
Haven't written a review in a while. Must get the creative juices flowing again!!!
Member since:01.09.2006
Reviews:72
Members who trust:18
Review rated by 20 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
When I first watched Breakdown I really, really enjoyed it, and thought it was a much better film then some of the negative newspaper reviews gave it credit for. Starring Kurt Russell, Breakdown hurls us into a horrible and frightening scenario right from the off, and cranks up the pressure as the film progresses. The entire film is set in the unforgiving Arizona desert, a lonely and barren place, and a great location for the drama to unfold. Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) and his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan) are moving to California, but to get there they have to drive across the country, and more notably through the vast and very open Arizona desert. After their car breaks down on a long stretch of road with no-one around, their trip comes to an abrupt stop. However, luckily for them, a truck driver arrives and offers to give Amy a lift to a small diner to call a breakdown service for help. When Amy doesn't return, Jeff gets worried, and, after managing to fix the 'fault' in his car, goes back to the diner to look for his wife. When no one in the diner says they have seen Amy, and the truck driver who gave her the lift swears he has never seen her, Jeff becomes embroiled in a very clever and sophisticated kidnapping plot. It is left up to him Jeff to save his wife.
For me the opening half an hour is brilliant drama, and the best part of the film. Watching Jeff as he stuggles to comprehend what has happened is both scary but also very watchable. Kurt Russell, who plays the role of Jeff as straight as possible, is very good playing the average joe who has to beat the kidnappers at their own game. I also enjoyed the performance of J.T Walsh, who plays the truckdriver Warren Barr and the ringleader of the kidnapping gang. He plays his role so well that you really hate him, and are rooting for Jeff to get his wife back. Sadly this was one of Walsh's last screen performances, as he died in 1998. Breakdown is directed by Jonathan Mostow, who's directed the recent Terminator 3 and is in charge of the yet to be released Terminator 4. Mostow's direction is straight to the point, with not an ounce of humour. For me this makes the film all the better, and more watchable. Without giving too much away I particularly enjoyed the scene at the bank where Jeff is drawing out money to give to the kidnappers. Seeing Jeff sweating and tense, with a torn shirt and messy haircut, makes you really feel for him, and also makes you think about what you would do if you found yourself in a similar scenario. Although I really enjoyed Russell's performance in Vanilla Sky, I still think this is his best screen performance. For me Russell owns this film from start to finish, probably because of the fact that we are following him through nearly every single scene of the film.
The only real qualm I have about the film is that it is slightly slow, although not so slow that it becomes unwatchable. This is only a slight quibble however. Breakdown is a rock solid thriller with a rock solid cast. The action sequences are also superb, particularly at the very end. Breakdown is definately a film that can be watched again and again.
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![Breakdown [DVD] [1998]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78518680.jpg)
![Breakdown Dvd [1998] | Noseworthy Sealed 5039036011](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/95017513.jpg)
by (30%):
27.09.2006 11:06
I did like the first half of this but thought it lost a lot once it got about half way through.... though Walsh is a great bad guy! :o)
27.09.2006 08:55
Good review xx
27.09.2006 08:21
Upped me rating to V.Helpful since it's only a film review. Again, great review.