Kurt Russell plays a character named Jeff, who's Jeep breaks down on one of the West's remote back roads. He and his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan) are stranded alone in the desert. They recieve help from a truck driver named Red (played by J.T. Walsh). He offers to drive one of them to Belle's Diner. Amy is driven off while Jeff locates the malfunction (a loose wire) and repairs it.
Jeff drives to Bell's Diner, but finds that Amy is not there. Jeff heads back out on the road and finds Red's truck. Red denies ever having seen Jeff or his wife. The police don't buy Jeff's story, and are of no help to him.
In the middle of nowhere Jeff sets out to search for Amy. He cannot trust anyone.
According to producer Dino De Laurentiis, "everybody can be in this
situation. Thousands of people disappear in the United 
States
every year and nobody knows where they go." To Martha De Laurentiis, "this
story has real characters put into a situation that could happen to anyone.
You're traveling in a car and it breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
You've tried to fix it yourself and that doesn't work, so what do you do?"
Writer-director Mostow recounts the genesis of his story: "When I wrote this script, I wanted to explore the universal feeling of unease that people get when they're out in the middle of no place, far from home, far from civilized society, far from a place where rules and cops protect you."
Breakdown is a unique action packed thriller unlike any other, simply because it can apply to anyone. Making it a very realistic film. It has some amazing action sequences. I give it a 7.5 out of 10.
"This is a more intimate look at people on a level of real fear,
and how you behave when you're experiencing paralyzing fear."
-Kurt Russell
