El relevo

...and unsure of your future. Other reviewers have given good summaries of the film, so I won't go into it. It's interesting though that of the four principle actors, only Dennis Quaid had any kind of career after this, which is very surprising since they were all such strong performances. "Breaking Away" really captures that limbo period right after high school when you're not sure what the future holds. I identified strongly with Dennis Christopher's character - I though I was going to just pump gas or flip burgers for a year before my mom pushed me to go to college. In other words, this is a realistic, character-driven movie - you'll probably find a bit of yourself in one, or several, of the characters. There's also real chemistry here between all the actors. And the photography really captures the beauty of the Midwest (some of you, no doubt, are scratching your heads after reading that). This is a gem - don't pass it up at the video store or when it appears next on TV.

Do you remember that time in your life when you were no longer a teenager but not yet an adult? That time in your life when, for the very first time, you had to begin to make decisions that could affect the outcome of your life. 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. There is not a false note in any of their performances with Quaid and Christopher special stand-outs. It is interesting to note that of the four, only Quaid and Stern went on to bigger and better things.

What really carries this movie though, are the universal themes that everyone can relate to. We can all relate to at least one of the stars, everyone has gone through what they are going through. Most people realize it as one of the more difficult times in their life (as it is for the characters portrayed in the movie.) What carries them through is their friendship with one another, and the support that that gives them. The movie also touches upon family and how hard it is sometimes to communicate with parents, who always (hopefully) love but sometimes just don't understand. Special mention must be made of Paul Dooley (who plays the father of Dennis Christopher), how he did not receive an oscar nomination much less win the coveted statue, for his performance, remains a mystery to this day. Barbara Barrie is also excellent as the mother.

The story follows the cutters as they try to prove to the college kids that they are real human beings, not outcasts to be looked down upon. As one of the cutters is a champion bike rider, the climax of the film and the contest to prove their worthiness, comes down to the Little 500 Bike Race. This is an annual bike race that is still held at IU and is one of the seminal sporting events of the college year (the screenwriter Steve Tesich, who won an oscar for his screenplay, actually won the Little 500). It is the perfect ending for this remarkable and uplifting film.

Praise must be given to everyone involved with the production, there is not a false note throughout the movie. Peter Yates did a superb job of taking relatively unknown actors coupled with tough subject matter and turning it into a minor classic.

Breaking Away is a picture that is better than the sum of its parts. Oh, its parts are wonderful. The writing is sharp, observant, and funny (It won an Oscar!), the acting is superb (how Paul Dooley was nixed a nomination never mind the award I'll never know), and it is a well shot film. But its charms go even deeper. 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. It is also about a young man in search of an identity (including that of a Italian bicycle racer), and of a family that is loving and supportive, almost in spite of itself. All these add up to a richly enjoyable, deeply moving family picture that gives us many moments to treasure (a large number include Paul Dooley as the frustrated and confused, but eventually loving father). Like other sports movies (the lead character races bicycles), it has a contest at the end, and like many much poorer ones, it ends with triumph. But we cheer not only for these immensely likeable "cutters," but for ourselves, for being treated to this bittersweet, touching, and wonderful movie.

I recently saw this on the big screen here in Tokyo (July 2012).

I hadn't seen it for years, going back decades probably. I saw it originally when it came out, as I was only a couple of years junior to those portrayed on the screen. Like others have mentioned, the acting was superb and true to life. Not one second on screen do you feel anyone is acting. Dennis Christopher as lead character David Stoller is really a joy to behold. His enthusiasm is never forced or fake. He pulls it off beautifully.

And Dennis Quaid's Mike character is probably all too common in this world of high school stars peaking with graduation. His story is quietly repeated among so many who saw their best years in high school only to watch others get the longer lasting glory. The speeches he gives are poignant, deep and yet perfectly fitting of his character. He does a wonderful job of showing the frustration of change.

Daniel Stern's Cyril is perfect as the more comical of the bunch - simply perfect casting. Some of his lines are just priceless.

And Jack Earl Haley and 'Moocher' looks like so many of us looked like back then, me included (though I wasn't short). Long straggly hair, t shirt, jeans and string-bean skinny.

Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie were wonderful. As were the brief shots of others at the Little 500. I can only imagine they were locals hired as extras.

Hart Bochner (Lloyd's son) did a fine job as the snob jock. Gotta admit, they didn't come better looking than that back then. I sometimes wonder if Paul McTiernan didn't intentionally subject Hart to that somewhat comical but deadly ending in "Die Hard" out of payback for being such a jerk in "Breaking Away".

Katherina played by Robyn Douglass was wonderful. She had that perfect look of girls you would just die for back then. She even resembled a girl me and my pals were all in love with back in Chatham Township high school. I loved her scenes and her moment when she finds out the truth. Really jolts you out of your seat. Choked me up.

Watching this film really made me aware of how we've changed, not just in our clothing or hair styles, but in our entire lives. Everything is brand-name now, everyone is so conscious of who made the object they desire and how much it cost. The more expensive the better. Everything is new and shiny. Every single element in a movie is examined from eyeglasses to shoes to pens. Everything is measured for its affluence and brand quality.

Back then, we had Schwinns, Huffys, Raleighs, even Sears and whatever else we could afford. We wore clothes just like those kids in the movie wore, T shirts, old jeans cut-offs in summer, and ripped up sneakers. We had fishing holes or swimming holes and spent enormous amounts of time riding bikes, or just laying in the grass or on rocks in the sun, or up in some tree house, just thinking or talking or planning out the universe... and also about girls, which none of us had actually had any meaningful contact with yet. A magical time in a boy's life.

Reminds me of the time we discovered an old playboy in the woods under a fallen tree. It was a huge deal with us at the time. We'd hide it back under the tree trunk wrapped in some plastic and go back to it when we were back there. Nowadays, the most descriptive and graphic porn that even Ripley wouldn't believe is simply a click away 24/7. It's a different world, indeed.

(Ironically, as a side note, the Playboy issue, we found out years later was the one that highlighted the ill-fated Dorothy Stratton.)

Nowadays, can you imagine anyone, especially a 19 year old kid sitting still out in nature or anywhere else for that matter for even ten seconds without whipping out a smart-phone or some other gadget? Or being seen not having just the right clothes, just the right Nikes or Adidas sneakers? We had converse back then, and they were the cheap sneakers.

It's just sad that such a time in life is gone forever, not just in the styles which were, yes, sloppy, an unkempt, but in the way kids lived. It's an entirely different world today and I wouldn't trade my childhood in the 70s and early 80s with any kid today for all the money in the world.

I sat through the film twice, loving it so much and knowing I'd probably never get a chance to see it on the big screen again. Watching it with tears in my eyes, I really felt such an urge that if I could have, I would've climbed into that screen in a second to go back to that time once again that is never more. Just like Willoughby must've been to Rod Serling.

I went to see this movie when it first came out. We had decided to go to a double feature of two movies that we had never heard of, knowing that in that day and age, a double feature meant that at least one, if not both movies, had to be pretty awful. The first film was Starting Over with Burt Reynolds, and it was fairly good. So my friends were sure that the other would have to be terrible, but we had nothing better to do, so I convinced them to stay. Before three lines of dialogue I was absolutely hooked. I have seen it at least twenty times and the witty dialogue and rapport of the characters gets me every time. The music accents the film beautifully. The cinematography is gorgeous. But the story is what really matters. Four guys finding there way in a place where they feel little hope for the future, one a dreamer whose dreams are crushed, but he finds the spirit to pick up and start dreaming again. Delightful all the way around.