A man, Jeff drives across the southwest with his wife, Amy alongside him for company; as their SUV breaks down in the middle of the road, or be it nowhere they are stranded, it isn't long until she accepts a lift from a mysterious trucker in Warren Barr. When she doesn't return, the hubby realises she has vanished, and he must find a way to get her back. The bad guys think he is rich and devise a plan to get Jeff to enter a bank and withdraw all of his money from his account. Director Mostow keeps the suspense and momentum believable, with Kurt Russell in the Everyman role: a contrast to his turns as the butch and bravado-esque, Snake Plisken in the Escape From movies, Big Trouble In Little China and Tango and Cash. Far from it, Jeff Taylor is portrayed as an ordinary guy, who simply is at his wits end figuring out what to do; thus displaying powerlessness & vulnerability but also brevity that lurks within him. Russell is fine here, but in typical Kurt fashion, I still prefer him as Snake, Jack Burton, Gabe Cash: characters that fans are synonymous with Kurt Russell himself.
Breakdown starts off in a slow-burner way until events unravel within the movie, all in the short space of under 93 mins and the pacing is efficient. The late JT Walsh gives one of his darkest, or be it arguably, his darkest turn as the villain in any movie he has appeared in as a sleazy, up- to- no- good truck driver, as is the guy from 1993's Sly Stallone action thriller, Cliffhanger. Speaking of Walsh and Russell, this was the fourth movie they have appeared in together, following on from Tequilla Sunrise (1988), Backdraft (1991) and Executive Decision (1996) The weak link, if there ever was one, was Kathleen Quinlan as the wife. Overall, the acting, based on the script is, for the most part, solid and the cast does a steady job.
A B-movie through its feel and structure, but also one of those thrillers from the 1990s that remains a gem and overlooked that whilst it isn't a blockbuster, it is still an enjoyable romp that has a really good story that gets better as the film continues. I think the reason why Breakdown works so well, and still hasn't aged that much over 20 years on, is the formula that is part-mystery, part-thriller but not treating the audience like we are idiots and in being smart in its approach; by upping the tension several times, it doesn't feel as if the story loses steam the longer it goes on.
Where it could have gone one step further, is whilst it has some really good moments, it could have had a nastier streak going for it by being much darker, grittier, menacing and sickening. Breakdown could have used the Paul Verhoeven or Quentin Tarrantino treatment to extract the sheer nastiness out of the premise. Alas, from that aspect, it tends to go down the safe route and be a tad predictable.
Final Verdict:
Regardless, it doesn't become too big for its boots and settles in being straightforward without being pretentious and over-bloated that it outstays its welcome. Perhaps not one of the most quintessential movies of Kurt Russell's illustrious 6- decade career; however, it is effective and the taut plot is easy to follow and understand; with that, Breakdown deserves far more credit today than it got on its original release.
Overall:
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