Breakdown (1997)
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
East Coast sophisticate Russell drives across the Southwest with wife Quinlan in a new Jeep. Breaking down in the middle of nowhere, he stays with the vehicle while Quinlan accepts a lift from trucker Walsh to the nearest phone. The thing is, Kurt gets the jeep going again, and by the time he's caught up with the truck, Kathleen has vanished and JT claims he must have the wrong fella - he's never seen him before in his life. There's not much fuel in the tank, but co-writer/director Mostow keeps this belated Duel retread streamlined and reasonably efficient. But it has no real credibility except for the gritty conviction of the stars, especially the late JT Walsh, oozing his singularly malevolent bonhomie. Mostow makes the most of the deserted truckstop landscapes but rehashes all the paranoid Hollywood clichés about the dangers lurking behind the gap-toothed smiles of Middle America - and caps it all with an insultingly brutal OTT ending.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Producer: Martha De Laurentiis, Dino De Laurentiis
Cast: Kurt Russell, JT Walsh, Kathleen Quinlan, MC Gainey, Jack Noseworthy, Rex Linn full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 93 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations











What do you think?
Post your review now