Breakdown (2016)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Alfie Jennings (Craig Fairbrass) is a cold, ruthless contract killer, who has suddenly developed a crisis with his conscience, haunted by nightmarish visions of those he has killed over the years. It all comes to a head one night when he is unable to a finish a job, and embarrasses headman Chapman (James Cosmo), his employer and family friend. With his fifteen year old daughter to look after, and loving wife in tow, Alfie realises it's time to quit the life...but Chapman has other ideas.Breakdown enjoyed the most limited of cinema releases, before rapidly arriving on DVD. If this kind of British film were in the mainstream, it would paint a very grim picture of the current state of our green and pleasant land. While many may think it has a point, the brutal, unflinching violence and cold, dispassionate onslaughts this film delivers at times, really make your skin crawl and test your endurance limit, making you question when as a decent person you should turn away.This is fairly standard looking in presentation, and appears to want to burst right out of it's direct to DVD confines, offering that little bit more meat on the bones than the usual such film, cramming in subplots involving family dramas and soforth, and even an element of horror at the beginning that might have stretched the budget a bit. Fairbrass has an undeniably hard, no nonsense presence and delivery, and is very effective in the lead role, whilst Cosmo, by turns, is a quietly understated and menacing villain.Ultimately, though, it isn't pieced together well enough to work as a whole, and the sheer gratuity and nastiness of it really weighs it down. **

Haunted by horrific visions of the men he has killed, Alfie edges toward madness as his past catches up with him. Alfie's panic attacks now compromise this once elite soldier and contract killer, and after having a panic attack during a torture in front of his employers and client, bringing Alfie's sanity and professionalism into question, this forces the head of Homefront, to threaten Alfie and his family.........If you were to pass this in a supermarket/store, you'd be forgiven that this would involve big explosions, helicopters, SWAT type commandos, and Tammer Hassan, in the heart of London.Now the film does feature Tammer Hassan, and he's really good in this, but the fact that he's in it for about five minutes and sits down the whole time doesn't really say much about him being really good. I'm sitting down right now, and this review will take me around ten minutes. Does that mean I'm really good? So we have Fairbrass having these visions every now and again, and he starts to go blank, then shake, and then act a little strange for about two minutes, and this causes the leader of his outfit to threaten the lives of him, his wife, and daughter............has he never heard of worked base counselling.So Alfie wants out, gets sent out on almost impossible contracts, and in the most predictable trope these movies have to offer, it's a case of, once your in, you can never get out, and that includes your family.It's not a bad film, he has to contend with his daughter coming of age, and his best mate trying it on with his wife, which would only exacerbate his symptoms, but it's just that the antagonists in this, just feel more like end of level bad guys, rather than fleshed out characters.The third act goes all bizarre though for some reason. Bruce Payne (the bad guy from Passenger 57) pops up for about ten minutes, giving Alfie an epiphany (and a nice cup of tea with two sugars), and then his wife and child reveal themselves to be cold blooded killers, which just shows that the writers had run out of ideas before the deadline.But it's good fun, like a hybrid of last years Spandau double whammy Age Of Kill, and the poor excuse of a film Assassin.If you like your meat and potatoes straight to DVD action movies, this isn't a bad choice.Not to be confused with a Kurt Russell film though.....

Just when you think they don't make any good indie British films anymore, unless its gangster Essex boys, football thugs and drugs, along comes something right out of left field that literally stopped me in my tracks, I actually paused the film and SCREAMED!! You have to COME watch this, it's really good! and we did.BREAKDOWN is not the norm by any stretch, OK its low budget, but there is something extremely engaging about it, its cinematic, gripping, beautifully acted in my view and totally convincing..I did look away a few times though especially in the torture scene but on the whole a seriously good film, riveting storyline, believable characters and the taxidermist twist I just loved. You just have to keep the faith and keep watching British films because every now and then something rather special comes along and BREAKDOWN is just that.Completed to write this! Peace and Love.

I was not expecting much from this as it came out of the blue but was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. All the actors were more than accomplished in there roles, especially the female leads. Mr Fairbrass does his usual impression of 'wasp chewing bulldog' but also managed to at least attempt some tenderness. Some nice turns and a twist keeps the pace up without relying too much on ultra violence, of which there is plenty. The only infuriating let-down was the damn sound balance. Whisper quiet dialogue (especially Connor) that ramps to 200db at the flick of a switch. Sitting with hand poised over volume control for the whole film got tedious!Apart from that, good work.