Stars: Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh, Kathleen Quinlan, Jack Noseworthy, M.C. Gainey

Director: Jonathon Mostow

Summary: 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.

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The sinister side of the divide between urban and rural America has inspired countless film makers and, although by no means original, Breakdownis a tense and at times dark example of the genre. Travelling to California to start a new life, Jeff and Amy Taylor are the perfect American couple, young, prosperous and devoted to each other. When they find themselves stranded in the desert following the breakdown of their car their dream descends into a vicious nightmare. With his wife disappearing into what seems like thin air, Taylor becomes embroiled in an increasingly desperate to rescue her: repeatedly facing a wall of silence from the local community.

Kurt Russell handles the role well, comfortable with the numerous action sequences but also adept at portraying Taylor's increasing mental anxiety in the kind of role perhaps more associated with the likes of Harrison Ford (a man who loses his wife more often than you or I might lose our car keys). The locals, led in suitably sinister form by the excellent JT Walsh, are a straight out of Deliverance--presented as dumb hicks but also capable of organising a complex kidnap. The film zips by at a pace, dwelling briefly but effectively on the astonishing number of people who go missing each year before culminating in a high-action, edge-of-the-seat climax. Not rocket science but fun all the same.

On the DVD:Breakdownhas a suitably epic feel thanks to the vast expanses of desert, and the picture quality on the DVD and the soundtrack's clear effects do much to enhance this perception. Extras are kept to the bare minimum, with the standard chapter and subtitle selection all that is on offer. --Phil Udell

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Theatrical Trailer, Scene Access
Subtitles:	Dutch, French
Year:	1997
Release Date:	June 30, 2003
Runtime:	89 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	06299 D V D
Keywords:	Never, Off, General, Wide, Screen, Breakdown, Thriller, Released, Schedule
Genre:	Thriller