The Storyline. -------------------------- Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) and his wife Amy Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan) are on there way to start a new life in Santiago. They face a long journey ahead of them which will take them through many deserted road, across baron countryside until they can reach there destination and a new life. As there journey continues, Jeff accidentally cuts up local resident Earl (M. C. Gainey) in his truck, which soon has repercussions that neither he nor his wife could imagine.
After a short stop at a service area the couple continue with there journey but this soon changes when the jeep they are driving breaks down on the side of a deserted highway in the middle of nowhere. Hot and stranded the couple are beginning to get a little worried, and then a truck driver pulls to the side of the road to help them. Jeff Taylor is convinced that the Jeep has just over-heated but Amy is not so sure and ends up hitching a lift from the truck driver to the diner 5 miles up the road to call a tow truck whilst Jeff stays with the Jeep.
Soon after Amy and the truck driver Warren 'Red' Barr (J. T. Walsh) start on there journey Jeff decides to investigate under the bonnet of the Jeep further and notices that there are wires loose. He reconnects
them and low and behold the engine of the Jeep starts and Jeff is soon back on the Highway heading for the diner and Amy to cancel the tow truck and continue there journey. Jeff arrives at the diner only to discover Amy never arrived there so Jeff soon starts to worry and heads off to the next ton to see if Amy is there instead. As he drives towards the town he sees the truck Amy hitched a lift in and follows it, but when he finally manages to get the truck to pull over Warren 'Red' Barr insists he has never given Amy a lift and never meet Jeff.
Angry and confused Jeff is advised by the police to file a missing person's report, which he does before returning to the diner where he was originally meant to meet Amy. A young man called Billy (Jack Noseworthy) is cleaning his car at the diner and tells Jeff in confidence that he has seen Amy and that the trucker took her to a deserted area so Jeff jumps straight in the Jeep to go and find Amy. When Jeff arrives, he gets into more than he bargained for and soon discovers Amy has been kidnapped and he has to get $90,000 from a nearby bank for her ransom.
Jeff does as he is told and withdraws the money as instructed by Warren and then he has to hand over the money. This is when things soon change for Jeff, Warren, Amy and Earl, but will Jeff hand the money over, will he get Amy back or will Warren and Earl do away with them both. This you will have to watch and find out.
My Opinion / The Acting. --------------------------------------- Not exactly the most original of storylines, I know, as it hosts a very similar tale to the one told in the film Duel. This version though stars Kurt Russell who yet again shows us he is in desperate need of a haircut and that someone should shot his stylist. His performance on the other hand is great as he incorporates fear and anger into his character and makes his part in the film very believable. Kathleen Quinlan stars as Amy Taylor and although a major part of the storyline, her character only actually has a very limited staring role in the film. During her time on screen she is not really given much in the line of conversation but what she does have she makes acceptable and believable. J.T Walsh gives us a great performance as the slimy Warren 'Red' Barr and really makes it very easy to dislike the character he plays which in my opinion goes to show how good his acting capabilities are and how versatile an actor he really is, and as for the rest of the cast all there performances are good and acceptable in making this film good in entertainment value.
The storyline itself although similar in nature to Duel is good and has a very good level of mystery and thrill factor. I must confess that when I read the summary of this film when it was advertised on Sky One last night, I thought how un-original, but as there was nothing else on to entertain me and I could not bare to sit through another I'm A Celebrity Wannabee, I thought what the heck. I am glad I did now though as I found it had good suspense and a very enjoyable storyline.
The director Jonathan Mostow has directed a very effective and more than acceptable film for us to watch and compared to Terminator 3 and Flight of the Black Angel, to me it was of the same good standard. Although the special effects in this film are limited and the stunts are rare, it is still worth a viewing in my opinion, but I will say it will probably put you of hitchhiking in the future.Technical Information. ------------------------------------ Cast. ===== Jeffrey 'Jeff' Taylor Kurt Russell Warren 'Red' Barr J. T. Walsh Earl M. C. Gainey Amy Taylor Kathleen Quinlan Billy Jack Noseworthy Sheriff Boyd Rex Linn
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Tautly directed and superbly photographed, this crowd-pleasing thriller from 1997 is ... more
indebted to Steven Spielberg'sDuelbut more closely resemblesDead Calmin its strengths and weaknesses. Kurt Russell plays a stressed-out husband whose wife (Kathleen Qu...
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their car breaks down in the middle of the desert.Luckily a truck driver offers to take Amy to the nearest restaurant to call for help. Finally managing to find th...
Tautly directed and superbly photographed, this crowd-pleasing thriller from 1997 is ... more
indebted to Steven Spielberg'sDuelbut more closely resemblesDead Calmin its strengths and weaknesses. Kurt Russell plays a stressed-out husband whose wife (Kathleen Qu...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![Breakdown [DVD] [1998]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78518680.jpg "Breakdown [DVD] [1998]")
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