Breakdown

On a cross country drive, Jeff and Amy Taylor are stranded when their SUV breaks down in a remote patch of the New Mexico desert. A passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby cafe to call for help, while Jeff manages to repair the car and catches up to the trucker and Amy later. When he arrives at the cafe, Amy is gone and the trucker claims he has never seen either of them. What follows is a tense, escalating pursuit as Jeff follows a string of clues through quiet towns and endless highways, unsure who to trust. The couple’s ordinary road trip becomes a perilous hunt where danger hides behind ordinary faces.

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, Breakdown premiered in 1997 with a script by Sam Montgomery. The lean, speed driven approach helped establish Mostow as a capable thriller director and set the tone for a string of taut, low budget chase films.

It earned 50,159,144 worldwide against a 36,000,000 budget, signaling solid if not blockbuster success. The film's efficient execution and clear focus on suspense made it a reliable midrange hit that resonated with audiences seeking a lean, nerve jangling mystery.

Breakdown is remembered for turning a routine highway setting into a claustrophobic arena where fear comes from what you cannot see. Kurt Russell's restrained yet urgent performance as Jeff anchors the chase, with J. T. Walsh delivering a chilling undercurrent as the antagonistic trucker. The movie helped reinforce the late 90s appetite for practical, high tension thrillers built on suspense rather than flashy effects.

Critics praised the brisk pacing and the way the plot sustains suspense, though some noted it treads familiar ground for the era. Core themes include trust under pressure, the vulnerability of ordinary travelers, and how isolation amplifies danger when strangers with grim motives enter the frame.