Breakdown

Revealing mistake: During the ending sequence, just as J.T. Walsh is pushing the truck on the bridge, there is a shot looking at the front of the semi and you can see that it is not J.T. Walsh driving. The stunt man is noticeably heavier than J.T. is, and his hair is messier.

manthabeat

Visible crew/equipment: Just after the beginning credits end, you can see the reflections of the boom, the crew and other things as they pass the 4x4. (Most visible on VHS version). (00:02:35)

Continuity mistake: In the beginning of the movie Jeff and his wife were moving to San Diego from Massachusetts. Well, they were driving in their new Jeep (with Massachusetts plates) through Arizona. When Amy comments about how fast Jeff is driving, the camera shot shows the speedometer at 80 mph and the odometer shows the Jeep has only 245miles. That must be a new record from MA to AZ..... (Note: not visible on DVD version of film.)

More mistakes in Breakdown

Trivia: When Jeff tries to get Red to pull over on the road, he almost misses an RV and has to swerve at the last minute. In front of where he swerves is a big rock looking thing, right frame. It is there to hide the camera filming the lower angle shot we see in this sequence.

manthabeat

Trivia: Red's son Deke is playing the Playstation 1 port of "Doom" (1995) in the scene where Jeff enters the house.

manthabeat

Trivia: Final movie featuring JT Walsh to be released during his lifetime.

Earl: What a man needs out here is a CB radio.
Jeff Taylor: Is that right?
Earl: 'Course, if you use a CB, you gotta have a handle. I'm thinking for you, "Shit For Brains."

Red: You're a tough man to get a hold of, Jeffery.
Jeff: What do you want?
Red: It's not what I want, it's what you want, and how bad you want it. 'Cause it's gonna cost you. Can't show it to you right now, but it's about 5'5", 115 pounds, three or four of that just pure tit. Nice curly brown hair, upstairs and down. Interested?

Jeff: Give me the key.
Red: Mister.
Jeff: Don't "mister" me you son of a bitch. My wife is locked up in a hole in your fucking barn, and if you don't give me the key, I'm gonna blow your fucking head off.

More quotes from Breakdown

Question: When Kurt Russell gets pulled over by the sheriff, the sheriff gets shot and begins to radio dispatch. Dispatch then asks the sheriff what his 20 (location) is. Kurt Russell grabs the radio and also does not tell dispatch where they were, but dispatch says they are on the way. How can they be on the way if they don't know his location?

Answer: There's only one major road in and out of the town. They knew where the Sheriff was coming from (Red called in an accident out of town to get the Sheriff out of their hair). If they start driving along the road the Sheriff took to get back to town eventually they'll find him.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Jeff (Russell) may have thought that the sheriff already called in a location explaining why he didn't include it. He was not by the sheriff at the time the sheriff made the radio call - he ran up to him shortly afterwards.

Answer: There would be a tracker in the radio to let dispatch know exactly where the officer is.

The_Iceman

GPS? RF frequency? No tracking on walkie-talkies in 1997.

Question: Why were they even kidnapping people in the first place? The ransom seemed like it wasn't planned and they only did it when they discovered that Jeff was rich. So if there is no ransom usually, why even kidnap couples to begin with? If it's just to rob them, then that doesn't seem very lucrative for the risk.

Answer: There was always a ransom, or at least that was always the intent. Anyone that didn't have money the kidnappers would just eliminate them. The kidnappers MO was to take a couple and force one of them to empty their bank accounts. Earl makes it clear that the difference in Jeff's case is that they were unable to kidnap the pair at the same time. For whatever reason, Jeff refused to get in the truck with Red, which caused the kidnappers to alter their plans slightly. Earl also gives some insight into how the group chooses their victims. He tells Jeff that he was targeted because he was driving a brand new SUV, which indicated he must have a fair amount of money in the bank. The kidnappers care very little about being caught, they have obviously committed many murders without being found out. They seem to leave very little evidence of their crimes for the police to find. Red is always several steps ahead of the police and is brazen enough to kidnap a man's wife and say directly to him in front of a police officer that the man must have him mistaken for someone else.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Was Red/Warren's wife in on it also, or was she truly unaware of her husband's kidnapping lifestyle?

Joey221995

Answer: She was not in on it. However, once she turned against Jeff by encouraging her son, Deke, to shoot him, Jeff suddenly felt her to be as much as a threat as the others involved. This would explain why he had her and Deke into the cellar to be locked up with the others. Also, don't forget she was startled to see the freezer and Amy popping out of it.

More questions & answers from Breakdown

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