Breakdown

"It could happen to you."

1997 1h 33m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 1,172

CrimeMysteryThrillerAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.

“It could happen to you.”

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Cast

Kurt Russell
Jeff Taylor
J.T. Walsh
Warren 'Red' Barr
Kathleen Quinlan
Amy Taylor
M.C. Gainey
Earl
Jack Noseworthy
Billy
Rex Linn
Sheriff Boyd
Ritch Brinkley
Al
Moira Sinise
Arleen Barr

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Writers: Jonathan Mostow, Sam Montgomery, Jonathan Mostow
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

240+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, shot by Douglas Milsome. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Basil Poledouris. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kevin Stitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kurt Russell and J.T. Walsh and Kathleen Quinlan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It could happen to you.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jonathan Mostow directs. Douglas Milsome behind the camera. Basil Poledouris scores. Kevin Stitt cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Italy. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

129 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Italy.
3240+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Jonathan Mostow, shot by Douglas Milsome. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Basil Poledouris. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Kevin Stitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kurt Russell and J.T. Walsh and Kathleen Quinlan carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "It could happen to you.".
9IMDB entry: tt0118771 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 23 themes, including "california", "chase", "ransom", "kidnapping".
11Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Douglas Milsome
Original score: Basil Poledouris
Editing: Kevin Stitt
Production design: Victoria Paul
Makeup / hair: Susan Mills
Sound: David J. Hudson
Stunt coordinator: M. James Arnett
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $36,000,000
Box office: $50,159,144
Return: 139% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Breakdown (1997)

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Jonathan Mostow

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CRCulver2018-09-06
★ 2/10
In <i>Breakdown</i>, Kurt Russell and Amy Quinlan play a wealthy New England couple who find horror in Iowa. While driving cross-country, their car breaks down. The various local people they meet who initially seem helpful are in fact criminals working together. The wife is kidnapped, the husband is told to pay half a million to get her back alive, and Kurt Russell decides he'd rather fight. I found this a rather lame movie. Its believability goes way down when, for example, Kurt Russell rides on the bottom of a moving truck trailer and easily finds his way up to the cab. There are obvious continuity and other errors here: a villain gets a brutal rifle blast to his shoulder, but a few minutes later he's driving a car with no visible problems; a small child is shown playing video games (so it's early evening), but a few minutes later in the same scene dawn breaks. About the only entertainment here is the acting of J.T. Walsh and M.C. Gainey, who are caricatures but fun ones. Kurt Russell, on the other hand, acts like he's not particularly happy to have taken this role, and is just going through the motions until he gets his paycheck. I must say that the purported message, if any, of this film is intriguing. <i>Breakdown</i> seems to be suggesting that decent people from the coasts shouldn't venture into flyover country, since it is the den of rednecks who lie in wait for them. The forces behind this film clearly weren't interested in fairly portraying the Midwest.
John Chard2020-05-16
★ 8/10
Super Thriller. Breakdown is directed by Jonathan Mostow and Mostow co-writes the screenplay with Sam Montgomery. It stars Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh, M.C. Gainey, Kathleen Quinlan, Rex Linn, Jack Noseworthy and Ritch Brinkley. Music is by Basil Poledouris and cinematography by Douglas Milsome. When his SUV breaks down on a remote Southwestern road, Jeff Taylor (Russell) lets his wife, Amy (Quinlan), hitch a ride with a trucker to get help. When she doesn't return, Jeff fixes his SUV and tracks down the trucker -- who tells the police he's never seen Amy... Sometimes all you need is a an unflashy thriller that soars because it keeps it simple. Mostow's thriller is a nail biter, preposterous at times for sure, but with Jeff (Russell superb) frantically trying to find what has happened to his wife - out in the desert landscape of America - we get a guy we can totally root for. As the cards get dealt we come to be aware of scumbag predators in his midst, the suspense gets ramped up and we are never quite sure how it's all going to pan out. This has no ideas above its station, and as the heat gets turned up bit by bit, come the thrilling finale you may find it's time to breath easy again... 8/10
JPV8522021-09-19
★ 8/10
Simple but really solid suspense-thriller with some good sequences especially the finale with great car stunts. Not much to the performances or characters, but Kurt Russell was, as usual, good in the lead and J.T. Walsh sinister as the primary villain. 3.75/5