Breakdown

A man searches for his missing wife after his car breaks down in the middle of the desert.

• Director:Jonathan Mostow
• Genre:Short
• Runtime:93 minutes

Cast

Kurt Russell : Jeffrey ‘Jeff’ Taylor
J.T. Walsh : Warren ‘Red’ Barr
Kathleen Quinlan: Amy Taylor
M.C. Gainey : Earl
Jack Noseworthy: Billy

Married couple Jeff and Amy Taylor (Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan) are driving across the country to move to California and almost collide with another truck on the road. Jeff is later confronted by its driver, Earl (M. C. Gainey), at a gas station. A short time afterwards, their car breaks down in the middle of the desert. Amy accepts a ride with a trucker named “Red” Barr (J. T. Walsh) to a small diner to call for help, while Jeff stays with the car. Jeff discovers disconnected wires to be the problem with the car and drives to the diner, but no one there has seen his wife. When he catches up with Barr, the trucker swears that he has never seen her, or Jeff, before. Jeff hails a passing Sheriff, but a brief search of Barr’s truck is fruitless.

Jeff returns to the local police station where he is advised to go back to the diner and wait for his wife. Jeff does so, only to end up meeting Billy (Jack Noseworthy), supposedly a town simpleton, who tells Jeff that he saw his wife come in with Red and leave in another truck. Billy tells Jeff where they have taken her and Jeff gives chase, but is ambushed on the road by Earl. Jeff escapes by driving his car into a river. He exits the sinking car and floats down the river, later circling back around to where his attackers are salvaging it from the water. He is found and knocked out by Billy.

Jeff awakes in the trunk of a car. Billy opens it and asks how much money Jeff has, which is then demanded in exchange for his wife, who is being held hostage. Red demands that Jeff withdraw a large sum of cash in exchange for Amy. Jeff heads into the local bank to withdraw money and starts to confide in the bank manager, but is dissuaded by an unknown person entering the bank. While the manager is busy with the transaction, Jeff swipes some money ribbons and a letter opener from the manager’s desk. Jeff is then instructed by phone to leave town, where he is picked up by Earl.

While gloating about how easy Jeff and his wife were to trick, Earl discovers that Jeff has wrapped stacks of $1 bills with a single $100 bill on the top and the bottom of the stacks, using the money ribbons he swiped from the bank manager’s desk. Jeff then stabs Earl with the letter opener and forces him to reveal where his wife is. The same sheriff from the beginning of the film, seeing the erratically-driven truck, pursues and attempts to arrest both Earl and Jeff. Earl shoots the sheriff with a pistol concealed in his boot. Just as Earl is about to shoot Jeff, the wounded sheriff shoots and kills Earl. Jeff calls for an ambulance on the Sheriff’s radio, then leaves to find his wife. Read more

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