Breakdown (1997)

For an honest,nail-biting,slickly directed,tensely paced good 97 minutes
BREAKDOWN is usually not my kind of film;but you know...it works in what it sets out to do,keeping your heart pounding with great car chases and crashes,vigilante-ism and slick direction from writer/director Jonathan Mostow (U-571) and a spot-on soundtrack by Basil Poledouris whose acute sense of action music is the perfect propeller of this fairly predictable thriller.
Massachusetts transplantees Jeff and Amy Taylor (Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan) are driving to a new life in California when their jeep breaks down.There has already been an incident on the road with some local rednecks that have unsettled the couple.A seemingly helpful trucker (the late great J.T.Walsh-who could do this role better!) stops to offer them a ride to a nearby diner.Amy accepts and that's where the film takes off.She is nowhere to be found,Jeff wonders if he has gone nuts,the whole set of redneck locals seem to be somehow in on it and Jeff goes to the most extreme measures to uncover the plot to kidnap his wife.
The editing in this film is slick and a scene involving a pickup and a semi hanging off of a bridge is priceless and appropriately palm-sweating.This is not the greatest film in the world,but for the type of film that it is,and clocking in at a smart 97 minutes (instead of the 120+ that we seem to keep getting nowadays!),BREAKDOWN keeps pace with the best of action-thrillers.
Kurt Russell's performance is really the key to this film.Russell is known for doing a majority of his stunts, and he really does get banged-up a lot.
Highly recommended for a tense time if that is what you need to get jolted.

excellent direction/performances/action sequences
Terrific thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Contains one of the most hair-raising fight scenes (that takes place on a bridge)
between J.T. Walsh's meany and Kurt Russell's good guy, that I've ever seen.

Director Jonathan Mostow does amazing work here. A natural.

I can't beleive all these 4 & 5 star reviews
Man, I've never seen a movie start off so electrifying, so intense, so deeply captivating and interesting, and then only take a nosedive into total stupidity. Alas, it got the Hollywood treatment.
Judging by all the other reviews, I'm in the minority on this one. I won't recap the plot, but I will say this mystery starts off totally realistic and frightening. But then it goes too over the top for me. I love Kurt Russell, he does a great job in this, but the second half of this film really ruined it for me. Oh well, check it out for yourself...