Broken down
`Breakdown' great

By Tim Burchett
Special to The Bakersfield Californian



The premise of "Breakdown" is sort of cliched but at least first time director Jonathan Mostow brings a freh approach to it that makes it frightening.

Jeff and Amy Taylor (Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan) are moving from Massachusetts to San Diego to start their lives over. On a long, deserted road, their jeep breaks down. A seemingly nice truck driver (J.T. Walsh) stops and offers to give them a ride to the nearest town's diner so they can call for help. Jeff decides to stay with the car and Amy goes with the trucker.

Without giving too much away, Jeff eventually gets the car working and heads off to the diner, from then on, the film gets suspenseful, as we learn Amy is being held somewhere untill Jeff can come up with $90,000 to get her back.

"Breakdown" has some of the greatest stunts ever to be put on film. The acting is great, especially Russell, whose character is a departure from his recent roles (Tombstone, Stargate) and J.T. Walsh, is creepier here than he's ever been. Even though Kathleen Quinlan isn't on screen much, she still manages to make an impact on the movie.

In short, "Breakdown" is a great film. Go see it. Rated R.