On B List of Movie Reviews
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Breakdown (1997)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
2/15
2/15:
The first half of Breakdown is reminiscent of Spoorloos.
Then, it falls apart when the filmmakers decided to make a superman out of Kurt Russell's character even though he
was initially afraid for a while.
Shaking off his cowardice, he does everything that's physically impossible for an ordinary person: staying awake for
forty-eight hours straight, being full-on mentally alert, never going to the bathroom, not eating or drinking anything, and
performing a lot of climbing activities that'll max out his forearms.
The moment when the camouflaged truck came out of nowhere and cut off the red SUV with Massachusetts plates is a warning sign
of what's to come. The ending of the main villain meeting his fate is ridiculousness upon ridiculousness in go-for-broke
extravaganza. If the ordinary route was instead taken, it might be a better film by exploring the missing person angle. So,
it's been a waste of Kurt Russell, James Walsh, and Michael Gainey's collective talent.
All in all, Breakdown is an apt title because that's what happened to the film.