ridiculous rating

Better Late Then Never

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Breaking Away is one quirky, but entertaining film. It's the story of four young men in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. As it is set in a real place in time it's far more than entertaining, it's a serious sociological study of the rust belt Midwest which if anything has gotten a whole lot rustier. The four kids Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley have grown up in Bloomington in the shadow of the University of Indiana which their parents built out of the limestone quarry that used to be the town's chief employer. Yet the kids feel it forbidden to them. Of course these four look like a singularly unmotivated group.The latter three seem almost resigned to their fate. But Christopher has constructed a fantasy world of his own involving bicycle racing and it's the Italians whom he sees as kings of the sport. He plays Italian opera records, speaks in the pidgin Italian he's learned and that just drives his father Paul Dooley to distraction. Dooley was among the many who used to work in the quarry and now he sells used cars, not a profession with a lot of dignity attached to it and it certainly fits Dooley.In the end though its Dennis Christopher and his fantasies and quirks that affords an opportunity for the group to score a needed victory over the outside visitors temporarily in residence at the college dormitories. Watching Breaking Away I was struck by the fact that Bloomington, Indiana is a microcosm for where I live now. Buffalo, New York was a thriving industrial city where the industry over the last half of the last century just moved away. But Buffalo is also the center of a cluster of colleges and in many ways we've become a giant college town with a lot of students temporarily in residence. Many more locals do go to the colleges here, but are as frustrated as our four protagonists in not finding jobs here. Look at Jackie Earle Haley in a great scene where he reports to work at a carwash.In the end credits the producers thanked the town of Bloomington for its participation in the making of Breaking Away. In truth the town itself is as much a character as any of the human cast members.It might be interesting to do a sequel to Breaking Away in Bloomington to see how it and life have changed there.

Best friends Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) are aimless working class recent high school graduates in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. Dave's obsession with bicycling and Italian leaves his father confounded. The guys swim in the abandoned quarry. The college kids call them Cutters for the workers who cut the limestone to build the colleges. Mike is the former quarterback angry at the rich college kids since college is always beyond him. Dave falls for college girl Katherine while pretending to be an Italian student.Dennis Christopher is ostensibly the lead actor. His character is a little too naive. Dennis Quaid delivers the most powerful performance. His swimming race with the college kid at the quarry is a highlight. There are some funny moments centering mostly with Dave and his Italian obsession. This isn't the newer National Lampoon SNL type of humor. It's gentle and sweet. Paul Dooley is hilarious playing the father. There are great touching moments. This is a fine coming of age movie.

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.

Peter Yates's film Breaking Away is a movie made for the average human, not for art houses or award shows. Just for the audience. Normally when a filmmaker sets out to make a film like this, the results are lacking. Breaking Away is an exception to that however. This film works as a commercially oriented story without misusing a bit of talent on display here. It is a relatable story for not only cyclists but also just people that have had problems in their life. A real gem of a film with great performances from Dennis Christopher and Dennis Quaid. No one says it is a masterpiece, but most everybody that sees this will take something worthwhile from it.