Breakdown (1997) Doesn’t Really Work Unless Kurt Russell is Dressed Like a Preppy Bozo

With today’s issue, this newsletter has become the official source for deconstructing Kurt Russell’s cinematic wardrobe, and I’m okay with that. Because I just rewatched Breakdown and that’s all I can think about.

If you haven’t seen this film, Breakdown is the kind of premise that I love. I believe that many writers (myself included) struggle with the notion that we must write something original for it to be marketable, but we all too often get hung up on worrying with original plots when unique characters and settings are often the key to a fresh idea.

That’s the approach here. I don’t know when exactly Breakdown was written, but it was being developed as a wave of Die Hard ripoffs was still cresting, which included two of its own sequels (Die Hard in an airport and Die Hard in New York City). John McClane had broken the mold of stone-faced tough guy action stars in the 70s and beefed-up macho guy action stars in the 80s, and this new mold of the everyman action star was (and still is) being adopted left and right.

So this film is essentially Die Hard but along the highways of New Mexico, and because of the setting and the reliance on an effective formula, it works. But it works even better than it should because Kurt Russell’s character, Jeff Taylor, is no John McClane.*

Jeff Taylor is traveling from the upper East Coast (Massachusetts) to the lower West Coast (San Diego), but that’s where most of their similarities end. John McClane has plenty of relatable qualities (which, again, is why that character became a new prototype for action protagonists), but he’s also a police officer, which makes his transformation into a hero less surprising. Especially in 1998 when (some) people liked cops.

And since this discussion is about wardrobes, consider McClane’s and how it evolves over the course of the film. At the beginning of the film, he’s in a cozy flannel shirt with a nice jacket, an appropriate look for Christmas in Los Angeles. But as the film progresses, we see him discard articles of clothing until he’s running around shoeless in a bloody undershirt. It’s a visual transformation that shows us he means business, but he’s also been through the ringer.

Kurt Russell’s character in Breakdown doesn’t really go through such a fashion transformation, which is key to understanding his character. Even more key is what he’s wearing in the first place.

The movie begins with Jeff and his wife Amy (played by Kathleen Quinlan in an unforgiving “the wife” role) traveling cross-country in their new Jeep Grand Cherokee with a breezy new life in San Diego ahead of them.** Keep in mind that they started in Massachusetts and they’re now in New Mexico, so they’ve probably been on the road for at least a couple days. (They really don’t seem like the kind of people who would take turns driving through the night to save money.)

With that in mind, it says so much that Kurt Russell’s “comfy travel outfit” is basically what I wore to church as a child. This man is wearing a baby blue Polo shirt tucked into his khakis, which is “nicer” than what I wear to work most days.*** And the coziest pair of shoes he could find was Timberlands or something? He really thought he was cutting loose just because he had short sleeves.

But this is great visual character development. We don’t know what he does for a living (another big divergence from the McClane model), but we know some things. We know that Jeff is that New England brand of preppy. We know that he’s probably a little bit uptight and has low chill (which is confirmed through his actions as the movie goes along). But most importantly, we know that he’s severely out of his element. This clean-cut man ends up wandering around the Southwestern wastelands looking like he jumped out of an L. L. Bean catalog, and everyone he meets can tell instantly. (This does allow him to look rather presentable when he enters a bank to make a large withdrawal, though.)

While Jeff’s outfit doesn’t exactly undergo a transformation like McClane’s does, there is a slight evolution. He adds a beige Carhart jacket to the mix later on, which comes in handy when he’s climbing along the sides of a moving eighteen-wheeler. His shirt becomes visibly untucked around this same time, as if to show that he’s become unhinged. And you know what? It works. He looks crazy as hell.

You know, there’s a lot of product placement in this film, from vehicles to food items. But I hope Ralph Lauren paid handsomely for someone to make that basic Polo shirt look downright rugged by the end.

*The name Jeff is just a preppier version of the name John. No, I will not explain this.

**My parents had a similar Grand Cherokee when I was growing up, and it was red too, so this movie really made me wonder what would’ve happened to my folks in this scenario. I am certain that things would’ve gone differently.

***I didn’t think there was really a debate over what color Kurt’s shirt is here, but then one of my buddies tried to tell me it’s lavender, and then I saw a director on Letterboxd say it’s pink. I can almost see the lavender in the right light, but I think Joe Lynch was on acid when he watched this movie.

Breakdown is available on HBO Max, Epix, and DirecTV, and it’s available to rent elsewhere.