by Vera Khano
Staff Writer
Of all the "thrilling and adventurous" films flooding the big screen, very few of them actually come out to be genuinely surprising. The only entertaining thing about these glossed-up B-movies is that they seem to provide a little humor instead of the horrifying shrill that scary movies are supposed to incite.
Breakdown seems to land squarely in the middle of this situation. It is pretty dramatic, but an obvious, predictable ending ultimately diffuses any tension that has built up in the past couple of hours.
Throughout the film, you may find yourself on the edge of your seat during a few thrilling scenes, but other times you are not so worried.
Director Jonathan Mostow is quite adept at setting up a scene for superior chill factor, but it is his screenplay, along with co-writer Sam Montgomery, that ultimately fails to jump start this film.
Breakdown begins with a road trip southwest, in the middle of nowhere, on an isolated road. Jeff (Kurt Russell) and his wife, Amy (Kathleen Quinlan), set off cross-country from Boston to San Diego thinking they are leaving their troubles behind.
While taking the scenic route, they run into some unexpected car trouble. No one seems to come around for hours, until a trucker starts to head towards them.
The driver, Red (J.T. Walsh), volunteers to give them a lift to the nearest diner, about 60 miles away, so the stranded couple can call a tow truck.
After initial hesitation, Jeff decides to stay with the Jeep while his wife accompanies the driver so she can get help. Amy says she will be back soon with a tow truck.
Amazingly, Jeff discovers that the breakdown was just a loose wire that he fixes in a matter of a seconds. He then heads down to the diner to pick up Amy.
What Jeff ends up finding are a lot of customers and a bartender with no answers.
No one seems to have noticed Amy or Red ever entering the diner. Jeff is left hopeless, helpless and confused.
After alerting the cops, who say it is just another case and it happens all the time, Jeff sets forth on his determined, desperate search for Amy in the sun-baked emptiness of the West.
The whole aim of the movie was to make the story (which resembles another tepid missing-woman thriller, The Vanishing) seem as normal as possible. You have a simple husband and wife talking about finally leaving something behind them to start new lives who encounter normal, everyday car trouble.
We can all relate to that, but any viewer with just a hint of common sense will see the ending coming as clear as Red's 18-wheeler down that tired old road.
The only "unexpected" situations are the inclusion of such overused clichés as a population of about 10 in a small, know-nothing town, three cops in the entire vicinity, no stores or towns for miles and an opportunity for people to get away with any sort of crime without worrying about the law.
Fortunately, Russell's character puts the audience in a situation they can relate to and lets us see portions of ourselves experience some of our worst fears and nightmares. His tense, terse acting style generates considerable heat.
The film begins with a direct hit to the action, so there is no drag in the beginning. There aren't really any surprises to the film from then on, though, because every situation seems so obvious. However, there are times when you are caught on the edge of your seat without even knowing it.
The good parts in Breakdown come when you begin to wonder, What if you were Amy or Jeff? What would you do?
This creates a kind of fear factor that makes thinking about the film as an afterthought grimly enjoyable. The psychological suspense of the story may affect you, but it's the outcome that's not so entertainingly manipulative.