I totally agree with Roger Ebert! This film works so well until the ending scene! First, the ending stretches plausibility to the breaking point! A 10000 lb tractor won’t be held by a slim piece of metal! Also, my sympathy for the wife vanished with her final act of raw vengeance! She turns out to be not much better than the J.T. Walsh character, in terms of morality. That said, I’ve seen Breakdown several times because, in spite of the lazy ending
and it’s moral breakdown (no pun intended), it’s scary as hell!