Skip to main content

Forgotten Film Friday: Breakdown

A review by Brooks Rich

How have I not done a Kurt Russell film yet? One of the best leading men in Hollywood history. A while back I did a post about the film Joy Ride and the art of the road movie. Check that out if you haven't already. We have another road trip movie here today with the criminally underrated 1997 film, Breakdown, directed by Jonathan Mostow, a director who is pretty hit and miss. Maybe check out his film U-571. He also directed the third Terminator film. Gross.

Russell is Jeff Taylor, a married man driving from Boston to San Diego. They break down in the middle of nowhere and a friendly truck driver, played by the immortal JT Walsh, man what a loss, offers to take her to the nearest rest stop to call for help. Jeff and his wife agrees and the driver takes off with his wife. However Jeff manages to start the car and head to the rest stop. Unfortunately no one can remember meeting his wife and the truck driver acts like he's never met him before in his life. From there things just get crazy.

The road movie always has a sense of realism to it. This feels like something that can happen to a young yuppie couple traveling through the middle of nowhere. Russell is great as the desperate husband looking for answers. Desperate is the key word here. The situation feels real and desperate. JT Walsh was always a greta bad guy and here he's no different, also supported by character actors you've seen play villains, especially MC Gainey, who some might known as Swamp Thing from Con Air. Oh stay tuned for Con Air.

This is one I'm not going to spend much time on because it is one of those you just want to enjoy yourselves. I miss the thrillers we were getting in the '90s. Track down Breakdown and remember, be safe out there on the open roads. Also maybe don't antagonize the locals.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

A retrospective by Brooks Rich Let's kick off the spooky season with a bona fide classic. I love the horror genre, but not much really scares or creeps me out. Most horror films I just watch and enjoy. However, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is one of those that really gets under my skin, and not just because the Sawyer family are eating people. The way Tobe Hooper shoots the film gives it an almost documentary feel. If you have never seen 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' you should probably fix that immediately. Do I need to explain what it's about? A group of '70s kids is driving across Texas in a van and runs afoul of the Sawyer family, including the man himself, Leatherface. It's a classic of the horror genre and one of the pioneers of the '70s and '80s horror boom. The film has a reputation for being sickeningly bloody and violent, but that is not true. It's essentially a bloodless film, which makes it even more horrifying. Most of the violence...

Forgotten Film Friday: Absolute Power

Clint Eastwood stars as Luther Whitney, a jewel thief who works in the Washington DC area. One night while he is stealing from a mansion he is forced to hide in a secret compartment with a two way mirror. From there he observes a sexual rezendevous with the wife of a powerful man and the President of the United States Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman) Suddenly the president gets aggressive and while defending herself the woman is shot to death by two Secret Service agents. Luther manages to get away with a letter opener the woman stabbed the president with. At first Luther plans to flee the country. But when he is disgusted by a statement the president makes, Luther decides to expose the crime. I miss these kind of films. The nineties was a great time for thrillers exactly like this. They are not the flashiest films but they are also not obsessed with big action scenes. It's all plot and character with them. Sure this plot might be a little out there but Eastwood makes it work. He's...

John Candy month: Summer Rental

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich Air traffic controller Jack Chester (John Candy) is given paid time off when he nearly causes two airline disasters. He takes his family down to Florida for a vacation. Hijinks ensue because its '80s comedy and Candy ends up challenging a pompous Richard Crenna to a yacht race to close out the summer.  This is a movie that has been forgotten to time in the grand scheme of Candy's career. Even with Carl Reiner directing it does have the same name recognition as some of Candy's other works. But I think it's a solid entry in his filmography. He plays a great everyman who we have no problem rooting for. The slobs versus snobs relationship he has with Crenna works like a charm and he genuinely seems like a good father and husband. Candy was always great at playing both the everyman and the aloof goofball. Sometimes he'll even play both. His character of Jack Chester in this is a good example of that. At times Jack is the goofy comic relief...