Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends and parents annoyance.
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Reading the accolades heaped on this movie by the many, many others who have reviewed it here, I can only agree with all of them. The casting, the story, the message, the beautiful cinematography (you don't have to be in California for that), this movie hits the ball out of the park on all counts. But -For me the biggest reason this movie really works is the characters. All of them well developed, well played, and we CARE about them. We get to know them easily as each has his or her own distinct personality. Just about all of them we like, and we can't help but care enough to want to see what they'll do or say next.Movies like this make me proud to be a Hoosier.
I was at the exit 5 Beacon in Indianapolis. I was talking to the driver who had his truck in the south bay. He was telling me that he only had one speeding ticket in his whole driving career. He was driving near Bloomington. He was pacing a young bicyclist. he got up to 60 mph,when smokey pulled him over for speeding. I asked,"I thought you guys,back in the day, got extra points for hitting a bicyclist".So,When the kids in Bloomington get bored,they go to Terra Haute to find some kicks instead of Indianapolis. If this is true,how come Bloomingtons own Johnny Cougar didn't do a song or a video about this fact. By the way,was Johnny Cougar there for the shoot of "Breaking Away"? Why wasn't Indiana basketball legend Bobby Knight in this movie?An Unknown Actor drives the Peterbuilt 18 wheeler.That Unnkown Actor is a permanent A list actor!! Barbara Barrie,Robyn Douglas,Amy Wright,Lisa Shure, and Jennifer Mickel are hot!!!---One Truck Drivers Opinion---erldwgstruckermovies.com
One of my favorite genres of movies is sports movies. Usually there is drama, comedy, and often surprising results. For me Breaking Away is certainly one of my top ten favorite sports movies, and quite possibly on my top five list.Breaking Away is a story about a teenage cyclist growing up in Bloomington, Indiana. Somehow he has become obsessed with the Italian cycling team. And whether his motivation is a unique way to meet young coeds at Indiana University or something else, he is an incredible cyclist.The fun part of this movie is his interaction with his mother Evelyn Stoller, who seems very understanding about his Italian cultural ways, and his father Ray Stoller, who doesn't understand why his son thinks he's Italian. Give credit to writer Steve Tesich whose script takes viewers on a humorous and believable adventure in this wonderful small-budget movie.Add in three friends who just graduated from high school, and this story is a fascinating jaunt with coming of age. Dennis Quaid plays a former high school quarterback, Jackie Earle Haley plays the short and defensive Moocher, and Daniel Stern plays Cyril, a student whose father likes to encourage him when he fails. Each of the supporting actors does a great job in helping to convey the story, but you can really see Daniel Stern's strength in comic acting in his first major movie role.The sports rivalry is actually established by the city kids called Cutters, competing for dates against the college male students. Eventually, the two rival groups compete against each other in a bike race called the Little 500. But honestly, the joy in this movie is the journey with all of the characters in the Peter Yates directed movie.As in life, there is humor and sadness, friends and family, rivals and conflict brought out on the big screen. This movie was surprisingly good the first time I saw it, and still enjoyable 30 years after its release. How good is Breaking Away? It won an Oscar in 1980 for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen with Steven Tesich doing a tremendous job in "wordsmithing" the script. The movie also received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Barrie), and Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score (Patrick Williams).Perhaps my best recommendation for Breaking Away is that I consider it better than that other famous Indiana sports movie about High School basketball. That's probably a minority view, but if you haven't seen Breaking Away, you have missed a jewel of a movie.
I was in a bike shop today selecting a new model for myself. The sad part is I now require easy entry, lots of gears and so forth. But still Breaking Away maybe the best and most uplifting film I can remember. Humor and humility are equally balanced. Loved it then, still do. The characters are heartbreakingly sincere and naive. No gratuitous( or any other kind of) sex scenes. No questionable language. Nothing but good. AND,Mendelsohn's Fourth symphony doesn't get sufficient (or any) credit as the urgent, driving and melodic background music. How come they don't make good, clean movies anymore? Okay, I'm an old codger, but really, why not?
