Breakdown (film)

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Breakdown
Image:Breakdownmovie.jpg Promotional Poster for Breakdown
Directed by	Jonathan Mostow
Produced by	Dino DeLaurentis Martha DeLaurentis
Written by	Jonathan Mostow (story) Jonathan Mostow and Sam Montgomery (screenplay)
Starring	Kurt Russell J.T. Walsh Kathleen Quinlan
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Cinematography	Douglas Milsome
Editing by	Derek Brechin, Kevin Stitt
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	May 2, 1997 (USA)
Running time	95 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$36,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	$50,129,186 (USA)
IMDb profile

Breakdown is a 1997 film, written and directed by Jonathan Mostow. The film stars Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh and Kathleen Quinlan. The film was released on May 2, 1997 by Paramount Pictures. It was filmed on location in Sacramento, California, Moab, Utah and Sedona, Arizona.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Cast listing 3 Trivia 4 External links

Plot summary

Jeff and Amy, a married couple, are driving across the country to move to California. Their trip stops when their car breaks down on the road in the middle of the desert. Amy accepts a ride with a friendly trucker named Warren "Red" Barr to a small diner to call for help while Jeff stays with the car. Jeff discovers that their car troubles were caused by dislodged wires and starts his car up again. He drives to the diner to find that no one in the diner had seen his wife. When he catches up with Warren, the trucker swears that he has never seen her.

Jeff returns to the local police station where the local authorities inform him to go back to the small diner and wait for his wife to return. Jeff does so, only to end up meeting with Billy, the town simpleton, who tells Jeff that he saw his wife come in with Warren and leave in another truck. Billy tells Jeff where they have taken her and Jeff drives off in his car as quick as possible only to be ambushed on the road by Earl. Jeff avoids the assault by driving his Jeep Cherokeeinto the water. He escapes the sinking car and floats down the river. Now he must attempt to find his wife, who is being held at ransom.

At this point, Earl meets with Al and they salvage Jeff's Cherokee from the water. Jeff circles back around to where the men are towing the SUV and he spys on them from the bushes. Billy assaults Jeff from behind with a pipe-wrench to the head, knocking him out.

Jeff awakes in the trunk of a car where he is asked how much money he has. The whole operation is a ransom for his wife for $90,000. They threaten to kill his wife if Jeff attempts to tell the police about the kidnapping.

Jeff heads into the local bank to withdraw money and starts to confide in the bank manager until a unknown person walks in. Jeff feels he has said too much already and clams up.

While the bank manager is busy with the transaction, Jeff steals some money ribbons and the bank manager's letter opener. After Jeff exits the bank a nearby payphone starts ringing; it is Warren calling to give further instructions. Jeff walks out of town until Earl pulls up in his truck. Earl takes the money from Jeff and ties up his hands. He pulls him into the truck as they drive to Warren's barn.

Earl gloats and starts thumbing through the money to discover that Jeff has cheated them by wrapping singles with a single $100 bill on the top and the bottom of the stacks of money with the money ribbons stolen from the bank manager's desk - the $90,000 dollar ransom is now only about $4,000 or so. Earl is furious and just as he is about to shoot Jeff, Jeff uses the letter opener to stab Earl. They wrestle each other for the gun while Earl is still driving. Jeff wins the battle and coerces Earl into telling him where his wife is. The sheriff, seeing the erratically driven truck, starts a pursuit. Pulling him over, the Sheriff attempts to arrest both Earl and Jeff. In anger, Earl shoots the sheriff.

Jeff heads to the Texaco station where Earl said Billy and his wife would be. Not finding them, he attempts tracks them down with no success. He runs into Warren who is doesn't notice him because he is preoccupied with a telephone call to an accomplice. Jeff manages to jump onto Warren's moving truck as Warren who drives home.

Jeff climbs onto the roof unnoticed and sneaks into the small attic upstairs. He then watches as Red, Billy, and Earl pull out Amy's body from a compartment underneath the truck. She is revealed to still be alive, bound and gagged. The men put her in a freezer in a secret basement underneath the shed, lock it, then retreat into the house for breakfast.

Jeff slips into the house and softly goes to the kitchen, where everyone, except Billy, is seated. He waves his gun, threatening to kill Warren if he does not give him the key to the barn. Red's youngest son appears with a gun, threatening to kill him to protect his family. The boy ends up shooting Earl in the arm after Jeff knocks the gun from his hands. Jeff forces them to return to the barn. Warren's wife opens the shed basement, and frees Amy from the box. The couple reunites in tears, and Jeff orders everyone to go down into the basement and locks the door. Billy finds his trapped family and frees them. Meanwhile, Jeff and Amy have run out. They steal one of the trucks and drive away as fast as they can. Bill and Earl follow in cars while Warren chases them in a truck. Jeff manages to chase Billy and Earl's cars of the road. Warren corners the couples truck and starts hitting them to break the road barrier and run them off a cliff. Jeff escapes the damaged truck while Amy's leg is stuck and goes to Warren's truck where the two brawl. Warren's truck ends up dangling over the cliff. Warren and Jeff fight on the dangerously situated truck and Warren falls down. Jeff frees Amy and the two look down at Warren's body. He starts to move; Amy swiftly pulls the stick shift and the truck falls on Warren's body. The last shot is of the couple holding each other.

Cast listing

• Kurt Russell (Jeff Taylor)
• Kathleen Quinlan (Amy Taylor)
• J.T. Walsh (Warren `Red` Barr)
• M.C. Gainey (Earl)
• Jack Noseworthy (Billy)
• Ritch Brinkley (Al)
• Moira Harris(Arleen Barr)
• Rex Linn(Sheriff Boyd)
• Kim Robillard (Deputy Len Carver)
• Jack McGee (Belle's Bartender)
• Helen Duffy (Flo)
• Vincent Berry (Deke)
• Ancel Cook (Barfly at Belle's Diner)
• Steve Waddington (Cowboy In Bank)
• Gene Hartline (Tow Truck Driver)
• Rick Sanders (Truck Stop Trucker)
• Thomas Kopache (Calhoun)

Trivia

• The road map at the beginning is a map of New Mexico, the road names have been changed and landmarks and town names have been changed or new fictitious ones added.
• Kurt Russell was helicoptered in and out of the areas of shooting so he could be with his family in Los Angeles at night.
• In the original script, Red talks briefly to Amy in the gas station store at the beginning of the film.
• Film composer Basil Poledouris wrote and recorded two scores for the film, after the first score was rejected.
• "Red"'s truck is a Peterbilt 377

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