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Breakdown
On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.
1997 · Directed by Jonathan Mostow · 93 min · Crime · Mystery · Thriller · Action · Screenplay in the scene database · 8 frames
Tagline
It could happen to you.
Plot
Jeff and Amy Taylor are driving from Boston to San Diego in a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. In the Arizona desert, they nearly collide with a battered pickup. At a gas station, the pickup's driver, Earl, angrily confronts Jeff before departing. On a remote stretch of road, the Jeep stalls. Amy accepts a lift from passing tractor‑trailer driver, Red Barr, to reach a nearby diner and seek assistance, while Jeff remains with the vehicle.
Inspecting the engine, he discovers the battery cables were deliberately loosened. After reconnecting them, he arrives at the diner, where the owner and patrons insist Amy never appeared. Back on the road, Jeff intercepts Red's rig, but Red denies any knowledge. Sheriff Boyd arrives and, searching the cab, finds nothing and releases Red. He directs Jeff to the sheriff's office in Brackett to report Amy's disappearance.
Returning to the diner, Jeff is approached by Billy, a seemingly slow‑witted mechanic, who claims Amy left with several men and warns him to avoid the police. Following Billy's directions, Jeff is ambushed by Earl. He escapes by plunging the Jeep into a river, but is soon captured by Earl and Billy, whose slow-witted nature was an act. They take him to Barr at an isolated hideout.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Jonathan Mostow, Sam Montgomery
- Cinematography: Douglas Milsome
- Edited by: Kevin Stitt, Derek Brechin
- Music: Basil Poledouris
- Production design: Victoria Paul
- Produced by: Dino De Laurentiis, Martha De Laurentiis
Cast
- Kurt Russell as Jeff Taylor
- J.T. Walsh as Warren 'Red' Barr
- Kathleen Quinlan as Amy Taylor
- M.C. Gainey as Earl
- Jack Noseworthy as Billy
- Rex Linn as Sheriff Boyd
- Ritch Brinkley as Al
- Moira Sinise as Arleen Barr
- Kim Robillard as Deputy Len Carver
- Thomas Kopache as Calhoun
Production
- Country: United States of America, Italy
- Language: English
- Studios: Spelling Films, Paramount Pictures, DDL Cinematografica
- Budget: $36,000,000
- Box office: $50,159,144
- Themes: california, chase, ransom, kidnapping, bank, paranoia, new mexico, highway, barn, diner
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