imagine this scenario : you and any of your family members are scudding through one of those long , excruciating cross-country car trips , far from the city and into the deserted rural routes . 
so far , the trip is idyllic when , abruptly , your car malfunctions and you are stranded in the middle of nowhere . 
it is not an easy situation , but a perfectly plausible one , the panorama in which breakdown musters it's throbbing suspense and skillfully executed tautness . 
it is not easy to cobble a distinct and gripping thriller nowadays , but breakdown doesn't bungle into rudimentary plot holes or cliches and it derives a masterful , titillating climax that by it's finale , engrosses a viewer with total absorption . 
the plot is somewhat reminiscent of 1988's the vanishing . 
kurt russell and kathleen quinlan respectively play jeff and amy taylor , a massachusetts couple en route to california for a brand new job . 
when they stop for gas somewhere in the arid southwest , jeff is confronted by a pugnacious driver , who later , will be an important player in the plot department . 
minutes later after that , their brand new , strikingly red , jeep grand cherokee unexpectedly stops . 
jeff cannot detect the car's problem , so he allows amy to take a ride with red ( j . 
t walsh ) , a heedful truck driver who will convey her to the nearest town , where jeff will meet her at a local diner . 
it is facile for the film to turn into a pseudo-suspenser , but instead it opts for maximum fervor . 
jeff manages to re-start the car himself , but when he arrives at the diner , she is nowhere in sight . 
disconcerted , the coffee shop's bartender informs jeff where to search for his wife , a town about twenty miles from here . 
there , trouble arises . 
and i shall not reveal anything else , since that would be spoiling the fun of what's head . 
there are many involving , tight scenes in breakdown but the final climactic period which includes a magnificent chase with three cars and a huge truck , will have you feeling as if your legs are made out of pure foam . 
it is a pleasure to be part of a classic confrontation of good vs evil , and rooting for the good guys , in this case jeff . 
kurt russell is one of the few top-notch hollywood actors which doesn't overblow his acting , and gradually gains reliance on his role as it progresses . 
so you can assume his alteration in breakdown is letter-perfect . 
suffice it is to say he undergoes a transformation , from a jolly man , to a guy frantically pursuing a loved one . 
not many well-paid actors can deliver these type of performances , but russell is one of them . 
as an everyday man , he pulls it off extremely convincingly , what also surprised me more was his rigorous physicality , which he effectively practices almost all throughout the films 93 minutes . 
although the film is blotted with a couple of portentous action sequences ( very well done ) yet the tightness is generated by the subtle circumstances this man is presented with . 
faced with an enigma about his wife's whereabouts , the movie succeeds by conveying us in realistic territory with veritable characters , including the cryptic villains , who in essence , make the movie what it is . 
what's most impressive however , is the feature debut by writer/director jonathan mostow . 
mostow , hitherto directed the showtime thriller flight of a black angle , alleviates the contrivances and generics of the script by gingerly pursuing the trajectory of the plot , efficiently letting the tone and the mood of the story generate that nail-biting suspense sought for in a well- made affair . 
contrary to most american thrillers , he doesn't rely on visual flair , but on aesthetics and substance . 
after breakdown , he should gain vast notoriety . 
the villains in the movie aren't your routine out-of-this-world idiosyncratic psychos that are harming for no particular objective . 
the baddies in breakdown , all well acted , are normal , seemingly inoffensive townspeople who beneath their trustworthy layer , conduct an amoral business of corruption and murder . 
the movie smartly portrays these men as loathsome rednecks , and , of all things in the world , it is becoming rather easy to root for villains ( jon voight in anaconda ) in today's movies . 
worth a special mentioning is j . t walsh ( who previously worked with kurt russell in executive decision ) as the leader of the gang , he renders a deliciously wicked performance , temporarily stepping out of the minor roles he is known for . 
alfred hitchcock used suspense--and action-- not only to stimulate , but as a way of aiding his audience's fascination in his stories , which were slowly realizing man's biggest fears . 
breakdown yields exactly that . 
it magnificently taps into the psyche of an ordinary man , acting like an ordinary man , looking like an ordinary and some sort of superhero . 
despite one or two iffy moments even hitchcock , i think , would approve of breakdown . 
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