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Breakdown

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Breakdown (1997)

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77 %
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Reviews Counted:13

Fresh:10

Rotten:3

Average Rating:6.7/10

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 - 10 (sorted by date; 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
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/08/03
Washington Post
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/08/03
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
Los Angeles Times
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[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
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An incredibly tense, gripping, white-knuckle treat.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob McCabe
Bob McCabe
Empire Magazine
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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
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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
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Pretty good.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Richard Harrington
Richard Harrington
Washington Post
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Taut, skillful and surgically effective.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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1 - 10 (sorted by date; 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...

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