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Breakdown

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Breakdown (1997)

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78 %
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Reviews Counted:46

Fresh:36

Rotten:10

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: A brainy and suspenseful -- if somewhat uneven -- thriller.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: After their new Jeep conks out on a desolate stretch of Arizona highway, a well-heeled Massachusetts couple accepts the help of a polite and seemingly honest trucker (J.T. Walsh), who drives the... After their new Jeep conks out on a desolate stretch of Arizona highway, a well-heeled Massachusetts couple accepts the help of a polite and seemingly honest trucker (J.T. Walsh), who drives the wife (Kathleen Quinlan) to a diner while the husband (Kurt Russell) stays behind to "protect" the vehicle. After saying goodbye, the husband gets two surprises--the Jeep starts, and his wife never actually arrived at the diner. What's more, the trucker doesn't recollect having picked her up at all. This taut suspense film, directed by Jonathan Mostow, is light on special-effects bombasticism and heavy on the old-fashioned Hitchcockian chills. [More]

Starring: Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh, Kathleen Quinlan, M.C. Gainey

Starring: Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh, Kathleen Quinlan, M.C. Gainey, Jack Noseworthy, Rex Linn, Ritch Brinkley, Susan Brinkley, Moira Harris, Kim Robillard, Thomas Kopache, Jack McGee

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Screenwriter: Jonathan Mostow, Sam Montgomery
Composer: Basil Poledouris

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Breakdown

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
01/01/00
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An example of what happens when a new filmmaker comes along with a fresh perspective and manages to squeeze some life back into a by-now formula plot.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

A long, drawn-out bore where the fate of each character is all-but-inscribed on his or her forehead.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Breakdown manages a constant, paranoid suspense by never revealing more about what's really happened to the wife on than the hero himself knows.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

The movie will make you feel sick, but in the nicest, most entertaining kind of way.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Nifty morality play about the invidious vices of envy and showing off.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/26/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Many will note echoes of 'The Vanishing,' 'Deliverance' and most of all, Steven Spielberg's 'Duel,' with Mostow displaying much of the craft that Spielberg ambushed us with in the 1971 TV movie that put him on the map.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An engrossing, exciting nailbiter that makes the most of every single one of its efficient 95 minutes.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
10/03/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Taut, skillful and surgically effective.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A terrifying movie that presses the right buttons early on and then capitalizes on your vulnerability.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today and working with a '90s sensibility, he'd be proud to claim it as his own.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Pretty good.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Richard Harrington
Richard Harrington
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Pure free-fall fun.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
05/07/03
Louis B. Hobson
Louis B. Hobson
Jam! Movies

[Kurt Russell's] lack of energy afflicts the film as much as its director's lack of ideas.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/07/03
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Breakdown is mostly a testosterone fest, but it's a good one.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
01/01/00
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Some movies have such good set-ups, that they are virtually assured to be something of a let-down when it comes time for the follow-through. Jonathan Mostow's Breakdown is such a movie.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/27/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

From the beginning, the movie grabs your attention and doesn't let go.

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

Are we really supposed to empathize with the empathy-proof Kurt Russell? I was actually hoping that his character's wife had run away with the trucker ...

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
01/07/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Mostow knows his Hitchcock as well as his Spielberg.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An incredibly tense, gripping, white-knuckle treat.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob McCabe
Bob McCabe
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Breakdown

May 21, 2007: Four Directors Up for the Next "Bond" Flick?
Curious to know who'll be directing the next James Bond flick? Join the club. One source has a short list of potential helmers, all of whom would be pretty ... distinctive. More...

June 15, 2005: "T3" Director Hired to Remake "Swiss Family Robinson"
Jonathan Mostow, director of "Breakdown," "U-571," and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," will step behind the camera for Disney's new remake of... More...

March 09, 2005: Paramount Looks Forward to Getting "Snow Blind"
More...

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