Breaking Away

Plot synopsis:
Dave, Mike, Cyril, and Moocher are working-class friends living in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. Now turning 19, they all graduated from high school the year before and are not sure what to do with their lives. They spend much of their time together swimming in an old abandoned water-filled quarry, but also often clash with the more affluent Indiana University students in their hometown, who habitually refer to them as "cutters", a derogatory term for locals stemming from the local Indiana Limestone industry and the stonecutters who worked the quarries.
Dave is obsessed with competitive bicycle racing, and Italian racers in particular, because he recently won a Masi bicycle. His down-to-earth father Ray, a former stonecutter who now operates his own used car business (sometimes unethically), is puzzled and exasperated by his son's love of Italian music and culture, which Dave associates with cycling. However, his mother Evelyn is more understanding.
Dave develops a crush on a university student named Katherine and masquerades as an Italian exchange student in order to romance her. One evening, he serenades "Katerina" outside her sorority house (Friedrich von Flotow's aria "M' Apparì Tutt' Amor"), with Cyril providing guitar accompaniment. When her boyfriend Rod finds out, he and some of his fraternity brothers beat Cyril up, mistaking him for Dave. Though Cyril wants no trouble, Mike insists on tracking down Rod and starting a brawl. The university president (real-life then President Dr. John W. Ryan) reprimands the students for their arrogance toward the "cutters" and, over their objections, invites the latter to participate in the annual Indiana University Little 500 race.
When a professional Italian cycling team comes to town for a race, Dave is thrilled to be competing with them. However, the Italians become irked when Dave is able to keep up with them. One of them jams a tire pump in Dave's wheel, causing him to crash, which leaves him disillusioned and depressed upon realizing that the reason the Italians were winning races was because they were cheating. He subsequently confesses his deception to Katherine, who tearfully slaps him before storming off.
Dave's friends persuade him to join them in forming a cycling team for the Little 500. Dave's parents provide T-shirts with the name "Cutters" on them. Ray privately tells his son how, when he was a young stonecutter, he was proud to help provide the material to construct the university, yet he never felt comfortable on campus. Later, Dave runs into Katherine, who's going to be leaving for a job in Chicago; they patch things up, and she wishes him luck in the race.
Dave is so much better than the other competitors in the Little 500 that while the college teams switch cyclists every few laps, he rides without a break and builds up a sizable lead. However, he is injured in a crash and has to stop. After some hesitation, Moocher, Cyril, and Mike take turns pedaling, but soon the Cutters' lead vanishes. Finally Dave has them tape his feet to the pedals and starts to make up lost ground; he overtakes Rod, the current rider for the favored fraternity team, on the last lap and wins for the jubilant Cutters.
Ray is proud of his son's accomplishment and takes to riding a bicycle himself. Dave later enrolls at the university, where he meets a pretty French student. Soon, he is extolling to her the virtues of the Tour de France and French cyclists.

Tags: inspiring, prank

Review:
My wild enthusiasm after leaving the theatre was similar at the time to my previous reaction to 'Star Wars', a fact that I attribute to the natural electrical charge of the endings of both films.Of course, a nine-year-old lacks the world experience to empirically understand the central messages of this film, and at the time my primary devotion to it was centered around Dave Stoller's orange Masi racing bike, a thing that I coveted with the passions of a kid on Christmas Eve. The movie made me mad with bicycle lust, and I frowned on every Huffy I saw at school.
Ultimately, I was propelled into the worship of Eddy Merckx while all my classmates were digging into their Terry Bradshaw Topps cards, unaware - as I'm positive they still are - of who the hell Eddy Merckx even is.BUT...'Breaking Away' is not just a bicycle film - not by a long-shot, and I knew it then too, but that just wasn't very important to me at a time when bicycles were all-important.Despite my youthful energies, I never did pursue bicycle racing,(although I am definitely a touring enthusiast whose passion for Italian-made bicycles has finally seen fruition) but 'Breaking Away' never left me.
In short, this film explores many strands: the aimlessness of youth colliding with the responsibilities of adulthood; the often heartbreaking romantic fantasies of people who wish they could be something else; lying and cheating and the false nature of gains made through them; the importance of strong family relations and friendships; and life in small-town America - and it does all this with extraordinary craft, honesty and sensitivity.
The rest of the cast was likewise fine, each actor doing the best they could with what were sometimes stock roles (the college kids, for example, including Robyn Douglas, the female romantic role)The direction, story and, most especially, the dialogue were great as well.I also picked up a love of Mendelssohn and Rossini when I was just a kid after seeing this - the film score was superb, all the while taking the Stanley Kubrick/Woody Allen approach by choosing some choice compositions of a time long past, rather than belabor the audience with the refried horrors so typical of modern film-score composition.I hope this movie doesn't become a relic - it seems its own sleeper status has kept it shelved over the years.
It is the story of four young men in their late teens, who are staring adulthood in the face after a year of leisure in the "small town" of Bloomington, Indiana, and how they deal with watching successful college kids pass them by.
There is no movie that captures this time, the transition from teenager to adulthood, quite as well as Peter Yates' superb film Breaking Away.The story takes place in Bloomington, Indiana,  (home to Indiana University) one of the bigger college towns in America.
It concerns the rivalry between the rich, snobbish college kids and the local townies (called cutters because there fathers cut limestone in the local quarries to build the college, among other things.) The cutters are played superbly by Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earle Haley.
The romance seems to be going somewhere, and Dave feels he's finally breaking away.While Dave is conducting his fraudulent personal life he also has an opportunity to race with the Italian bike racers he had worshiped from afar.
Dave will never be a "cutter", he says, meaning a man of accomplishment, unless he finds something equally real to do with his own life.The Indiana Little 500 is a bike race the university holds that is taken very seriously by the groups that participate.
"Breaking Away" is the story of kids who had let their own self-image degrade to the point that a fantasy world, and a life of bitter resentment, seemed like their best option..
He even pretends to be an Italian exchange student in order to impress a pretty sorority girl named Katherine, whom he calls Caterina and feels would otherwise be beyond his reach.Dave makes an appealing hero, wonderfully portrayed by Dennis Christopher, vulnerable but with an amazing joie de vivre.
I was also bowled over by his endearing enthusiasm when he discovers "The Italians are coming!", that his racing heroes will soon be arriving in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana where the entire tale is set, culminating in the Indiana Little 500 cycling race.Dave is a kid who doesn't think he is good enough for college, lives in a fantasy world of Italian cycling, and wants to break away from his own aimless, mundane life.
This is a typical coming of age movie in that he learns a lot about himself and the realities of life, especially from the behaviour of his heroes, the Cinzano racing team.
Through competing against the college crowd in the Little 500, they learn lessons in self esteem and team spirit, believing in yourself and striving toward reachable goals.Breaking Away is a movie with obvious social class themes.
Both the marital relationship between Dave's parents and the bond between father and son are captured with poignancy as well as humour.When I first saw this movie after its original release, the thing that remained with me besides the charming joie de vivre of its hero was the wonderful Italian music, from Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony and a Rossini opera.
If there was one film I've been dying to watch for many years, it is the fifth Best Picture nominee of 1979, the 8th most inspiring American movie from AFI's Top 100, the 8th sports movie from AFI's Top 10, the gem that has been impossible to find in my usual DVD stores: "Breaking Away".
The first of the many satisfactions the film provided me was the magical moment where I finally found it and God, I wasn't disappointed."Breaking Away" opens in a small town of Indiana, with four friends and as many personalities to identify with.
The portrayal of Dave's parents is far from the stereotypical detachment, the mother (Oscar-nominated Barbara Barries) cares too much while the father believes a 19-year old shaving his legs, listening to opera must have some serious issues  While watching Dooley, I kept wondering what happened to his Oscar nomination, he's hilarious to a Walter Matthau-level.The story goes on, Moocher gets a job but finally leaves it after one 'shorty' too many, Mike keeps clashing and competing with the rich college boys who call him 'cutter', a reference to the working-class that built the college and Cyril is the eternal victim of his helpful nature.
And while I loved watching Dave's adventure, I kept wondering what exactly made "Breaking Away" in the AFI's Top 100, let alone Top 10 most inspiring films  was Dave going to win over the Italians?
That's the kind of stuff great stories are made on, and it earned "Breaking Away" a well-deserved award for Best Original Screenplay.As a screenwriter myself, I was fascinated by the film's narrative and the way it rode back and forth from comedy to poignant drama, as a screenwriter it reminded me how happy I was to work with an author, putting all my sweat and blood into a six-month promising project before he would dismiss me after receiving the first draft.
Dennis Christopher (It's My Party, The Profiler (Jack)) plays Dave, who likes to pretend to be Italian, calls his mother Barbara Barrie ("Suddenly Susan") "mama", and his dad "papa", shaves his legs because bicyclists in Italy are supposed to do that, and his friend Mike says: "weird country, the men shave their legs but the women don't".
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.
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.
The story of four high school graduates, devoted friends who reinforce each others' self-doubt while dealing with the presence in town of a major university (which serves to remind them of their lack of motivation), makes for a very touching movie.
Even if a person sees himself more in the college students, pursuing professional endeavors as they enjoy the first experiences of independence from parents, s/he would have to possess a very limited capacity for empathy not to feel affected by the fears and regrets of the four boys whose working class heritage has conditioned them to feel unworthy of attending college.Breaking Away will probably move too slowly for some, who may expect to see fast-paced and high-risk bicycling from the start.
For the person who enjoys feeling his interest and tension build as situations and relationships between characters develop, however, Breaking Away will not bore him.Besides the stigma felt by the four friends for having fathers who spent much of their working lives cutting stones at the town's rock quarry, predestining the boys to underachieve, each contends with his own personal struggle.
I saw this film in 1979 with my three best friends from high school, probably right after we went swimming at the quarry and before cruising Marymount College for girls and getting into fights with their West Point boyfriends.
Though it was a virtual reproduction of our lives, we were serious movie buffs and were able to distance ourselves and give it an objective review: a damn fine "coming of age" film with a smart script and solid acting all around.As I watched it again recently, I noticed more funny bits than I had previously, especially in the scene when Dave's parents get romantic: she plucks the flower from her hair as she drops into bed, and he sheds his pocket protector full of pens...
I also appreciated more the nuances of the relationship between Dave and his dad, and the scene with them after Dave's race with the Italian team wasn't as mushy this time around.Not quite an 8 out of 10, but I think the current 7.6 rating is well-deserved, and would have given it a 7.5 myself if I could have.Whether still young or now old, many small-town and college-town guys who grew up with a tight circle of best friends will relate to this movie, but it's not so much a "guy-flick" that their girlfriends and wives won't enjoy a look into the lives and emotions of young men that women rarely see..
The movie has a lot of heart, the friendship between the guys is portrayed with realism, and the relationship of the main character of Dave Stoller, an amateur bicycle racer and dreamer, with his parents, is something special.
Breaking away is an inspirational sports film, but also a coming of age story or four young men trying to find their way in life.
The friends have graduated high school but are unsure of what to do when considering college, jobs, parental expectations, social pressures, and being looked down upon for being "cutters." The plot mainly focuses on Dave who is obsessed with cycling and everything Italian.
This movie is about growing up, about class divisions between the college-educated and the blue-collar (Bloomington is the home of Indiana University, which plays a big role in the film), and about coming to grips with who you are and what's important in life.
To compete as a cyclist is his ambition;and when the opportunity for a local off campus team of local boys is allowed to enter the Big Annual 4 Man Cycle Team relay, Sponsored by and held on the Campus of Indiana University.Dave enlists his 3 buddies in a Local "Cutters"Team.("Cutters" being a derogatory term for the locals used by some of the University Crowd, the snobbish ones.) So he is joined by Former High School Jock Mike(Dennis Quaid), Future College Boy Cyril(Daniel Stern) and Newlywed Moocher(Jackie Earle Haley).
The one thing that keeps them together is their competition with the towns college kids, and Daves'(Dennis Christopher) obsession with bicycling.Eventually a bicycle race gives the group a chance to prove their worth.The sub-plot involving Daves father is unusual.Raymond Stoller(Paul Dooley) is having doubts about his own life as his son struggles to find his way."Breaking Away" is an excellent movie about growing up, without the mindless sex and profanity that saturates most movies directed at young people..
It has held surprisingly well, which I cannot say about many of the movies from my youth.The writing & story are top notch, the acting, especially by Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie, are on the mark.I won't recount the plot, but, in a nutshell, this is a movie about choices and sticking to what you believe, and in the end, the consequences that you reap from those choices.No grand special effects, and no epic implications, just a movie about everyday people told in an engaging way that allows the viewer to be drawn into the story, which is laced with humor, drama and some fine music.UPDATE (July 2013) Interesting to note that my older children, especially my older sons, have watched this movie repeatedly and have found elements of humor and reflection that I either missed or forgot over the years.In my mind, this film and story make the case that by early 21st century standards (over the top special effects, highly stylized musical scores and trendy movie genres), this movie still merits viewing, which proves that a good story and acting will always find an audience, regardless of when and by whom it was produced..
This movie is truly an underrated classic and very deserving of 4 stars, it has a great cast, Daniel Christopher as Dave, who really did think he was Italian and someone we can all relate to when it comes to accomplishing out dreams but having something that holds you back, and his friends, a group of charming misfits, the kind've guys who seem nice but most people just pre- judge them as a bunch of freaks.
And Dennis Quaid as Mike, he was a bit of an ass, but you can't help but feel sorry for him and all the mistakes he's made.There are supposed coming of age stories all the time now, but this is a true one, there at the time where everyone is most confused, after graduation, the first big step in life.
Though its other teen stars went on to more fame and glory, (Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern) you'll never forget Dennis Christopher's performance in the lead role of Dave Stoller, an innocent, humble, fantasy-prone kid who dreams of becoming an Italian bicycle racer.
He also adopts an Italian accent, speaks in "pigeon Italian", sings opera and shaves his legs (to decrease wind resistance) - much to the disgust of his blustery father and the amusement of his reserved but kindred-soul mother (Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie, in a moving performance.)The plot focuses on four working class teens, residents of college town Bloomington, Indiana, who face a bleak,uncertain future after graduating from high school.
Bad feelings escalate, finally culminating in a somewhat contrived bicycle race between the college students and the townies.But the conventional plot is made palpable by gentle humor, good acting and an unusual underlying theme.It's the opposite of a coming of age flick.
It's about four guys, the 'cutters', who have to face their rivals, their parents, and each other, over the summer before they have to become adults.The rivalry between the rich university students and the cutters is entertaining, but the heart of the film is Dave's (Dennis Christopher) relationship with his Dad (Dooley, in a great performance), which provide the biggest laughs of the film.
The plot is simple - four working-class nineteen-year-olds, unemployed in a college town that their fathers helped build, decide to participate in a bike race for students - but the themes are universal..
Now, over 30 years later, I decided to watch the film for a second time--mostly because I barely remember it and because it's an important film from this era.The film is about a group of young high school graduates who are not going to college, aren't particularly interested in working and are afraid of growing up.
Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie are hilarious as Dave's parents, really adding to the film.Basically this movie, with its beautiful scenery (all filmed in Indiana) and wonderful bike races is about breaking away from the pack in more ways than one - making a decision not just about a career, but how you will tackle life mentally and emotionally.
I loved Dave Stoller's character played by Dennis Christopher, and Raymond Stoller (Paul Dooley) was great as the unintentionally funny father.It was a classic tale of the haves and the have-nots with the have-nots being the "Cutters".
Perhaps this movie came about at the exact time in my life when I was breaking away, I don't know, but the script and the portrayal are brilliant.
He always has a wink at the audience to let them know there is humor and warmth under each line.The film is best summed up, I think, when Dennis Christopher is spurred by events in the movie (no spoilers) to expiate his "sins" and embrace his own heritage (in a scene that shows American working class WASP social roles defined by their jobs).
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.
#8 on AFI's 100 Most Inspiring Movies list.It's a coming of age story about Dave Stoller (Christopher), an awkward teen who yearns to be a world class cyclist like the Italians he idolizes.
Mike (Quaid), Cyril (Stern), and Moocher (Haley) are Dave's best friends, all just out of high school with no college or other life plans, sons of blue collar workers that live in Bloomington, Indiana.