directed by Jonathan Mostow (1997)
Breakdown is one of those Sunday afternoon TV movies, that catches its audiences between far too many car and prescription drug commercials. It deserves a second look as a bit more than that – not much more mind you, this is pure B-movie fun that feeds of urbane fears of the rural, but there’s so few movies that fit the bill like this, that it’s great in it’s simple effectiveness.
How often do you just want a tense, enjoyable thriller, that isn’t dumb, but doesn’t require too much thinking either? And how often can you find such a movie? (I’ve found, not often enough – and sadly, never again from director Mostow who helmed the forgettable Terminator 3 and Surrogates). Well as we suffer through this intense summer weather, now is a perfect time to tune into this fast paced Kurt Russell flick on instant netflix along with some AC.
Not only is the dimpled handsome in to his usual solid leading man mode but you’ll find great character actors including M.C. Gainey (you may recognize him as Tom in Lost) looking every bit Lemmy as a threatening redneck and the far more quietly menacing truck driver, JT Walsh, who passed away from a heart attack after the movie was shot.
But what do you think?