Nervous Breakdown
Russell Brings Suspense To Summer

What is it about the human mind that makes us delight in seeing others in desperation? This is nothing new to movies. One only has to look as far as Alfred Hitchcock's masterful films like Rope or Shadow of a Doubt to understand how the desperation of a film's characters can transfer to the audience. We delight in being nervous. We revel in the feeling of not being in control, if only for 95 minutes.

Breakdown is a wonderful example of the suspense film which Hitchcock defined in his work decades ago. Whereas most summer fare ranges from action/adventure to juvenile comedy, writer/director Jonathan Mostow has given us a creepy, realistic drama which is more frightening than aliens from outer space simply because of its plausibility.

In Breakdown, Kurt Russell plays Jeffrey Taylor, a Boston man traveling cross-country with his wife, Amy (played by Kathleen Quinlan), to their new home in California. Along the empty highways of Arizona, the couple experience car trouble. A "friendly" trucker (played by J.T. Walsh of television's "Dark Skies") offers to give the desperate travelers a ride to a diner up the road. Amy accepts, but Jeff stays behind to guard their car. Half an hour later, he finds the problem with the car and heads to the diner to catch up with his wife.

If you've seen the previews, or the television spots, you can guess what happens next. Jeff is unable to find his wife, and is convinced something has happened to her. Of course, he has no proof, or even an idea of who's truck she climbed into, and he becomes very worried.

I can't tell you more, because the anticipation and revelations are the draw of the movie. The movie is unpredictable, and Russell plays his part with the nervousness and apprehension of a man desperate to wake up from a horrible nightmare. Walsh, as well, gives an excellent performance as the menacing trucker.

This movie does not hinge on the performances nearly as much as the well-written script which takes its audience on a journey of fear and paranoia. Like me, you will leave the theater asking yourself what you would have done in a similar situation. Most likely, you won't like the answer.

MY RATING: 8 out of 10.

RATED: R
RUN TIME: 95 min.