• Gerardo Valero, Mexico City
"Breaking Away" is a movie about four working class friends from a college town who are better know as "The Cutters" a term for the stone quarry workers from town who never got to go to college, and how cycling becomes their unexpected ticket into bigger and better things.
It is populated with original characters who feel completely real, they all have their ambitions, their fears and their regrets which are hardly unlike ours. Each of their numerous idiosyncrasies only serve to make them all the more endearing.
As in real life, the good guys are all flawed; the bad guys really aren't all that evil. They come from different worlds, plain and simple.
"The Cutters" were played by, what was (then) called an ensemble of remarkably unknown actors. Dennis Christopher seemed destined for stardom after his participation here and in the Academy Award winner "Chariots of Fire" but somehow he fell of the radar rather quickly. Dennis Quaid went on to became, well, Dennis Quaid. Jackie Earle Haley also disappeared for years and years until his recent Oscar nominated role as a tragic, child molester in "Little Children."
Daniel Stern has also appeared in countless comedies as well as the voice of the grown Kevin Arnold in the great TV show "The Wonder Years". Quaid basically plays the sole straight man to his three hilarious friends. But as good as they all are, Paul Dooley as Dave's father comes close to stealing the movie with his constant aggravation about his seeing his only son transform from the all-American Dave into the leg shaving-opera loving (actually "everything-ini" loving) Enrico.
The moment comes into the movie when this closely knit group of friends take their most talented member as a leader into bigger and better things, as opposed to keeping him down for sake of everybody's comfort's, hence the title BREAKING AWAY (at least, this is my interpretation).
Most of today's Hollywood movies have everything money can buy but they often feel like they come out of serial production in which the situations and the characters are just about the same. "Breaking Away is certainly an exemption, while watching it, you might find yourself surprised about how much was achieved with so little, there where no big name stars (not until then anyway), the sets are all real and from mostly modest settings (a car wash, a bowling alley, the town quarry, an used car lot), the extras are mostly locals. This doesn't mean the film falls short in production values in any way, it simply didn't require anything else for the movie to be great.
"Breaking Away" won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Steve Tesich, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Barbara Barrie), Best Director, Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score and Best Picture. The film is 8th on the List of America's 100 Most Inspiring Movies compiled by The American Film Institute in 2006 and when you see it, you'll instantly know why.
I live with the idea most of us in the audience are constantly looking for new movies more than for good ones. That's why I'm no longer surprised how many people I know haven't seen "Breaking Away". This is a film which I can all but guarantee that given a chance will become one of your favorites.
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I love this movie. It's the reason I can't help but grimace every time I see a Cinzano advertisement.
Breaking Away is the typical "little film that could", but the fact that it's ultimate impact has been the launch of Dennis Quaid's career proves its own limitations. Nowadays it might have become an emblematic feature of the Hallmark Channel. It had no cultural significance neither defined anything from a generation, it was at the same level of another Oscar winner from that year (best score), "A Little Romance", and even Blake Edwards' "10" has had a greater resonance. Yet it might not be its fault entirely: a year that had "Apocalypse Now", "All That Jazz", "Kramer vs Kramer", "Manhattan" and a true little gem like "Being There" simply eclipses the achievements of a such a "nice" film.
I saw this as a teenager and it left an impression on me. Equally worth watching is the Tesich-written American Flyers (also a cycling pic).
I grew up in Indiana and went to IU. Every day one summer on the way to my job I would walk by Dave Stoller's house. Breaking Away is a great movie and always reminds me of some of my own rights of passage both growing up and going to college.
I saw this some years ago and loved it. 70s film is my favorite and this one didn't disappoint.
Hi Gerardo - I appreciate your insights on Breaking Away. I haven't seen it but would be very interested in doing so following your discussion here.
I have always loved this film, especially Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie as the parents. That wonderful, painful conversation between father and son when the son is so devastated when his Italian heroes make him crash, oh. It encapsulates the universal loss of innocence that comes to us all soon or late. I'm realizing as I type that I've carried these characters in my heart since I first saw this film, is it really thirty years ago now? Time to watch it again, have to queue it up on Netflix.
Mario:
Who said BREAKING AWAY’s biggest achievement was launching Dennis Quaid’s career?
What are those limitations you imply?
Was it a “big event” movie? No. Is it virtually unknown to a new generation? Absolutely. Did it cost about a 1/100 fraction to make than APOCALYPSE NOW. No question.
Can these be called limitations? I don’t think so.
To compare it with those other films you mention is “apples and oranges” in my opinion. Maybe ROCKY is a better fit and indeed one can wonder why BREAKING AWAY didn’t launch a series of sequels or make a ton of money. I don’t have the answer to that but I have no doubt that if you take away the “final fight” from any ROCKY, you don’t have much of a movie, take the final competition from BREAKING AWAY and you still have a great one.
To understand BREAKING AWAY’s biggest achievement, you would have needed to be among the audience I saw it with at the (then) brand new “Plaza del Angel” cinema some 30 years ago (a once in a lifetime experience for me). Or simply to see the face of one of my nieces after I showed it to her just a few months ago.
To put it in the same level with Blake Edwards’ “10”, whose biggest achievement was indeed the launching of Bo Derek’s career, hardly seems fit to me.
Great comment though.
I went to this movie on my first real date. Many years later I moved to Bloomington, and heard from natives what it was like when they were filming. You know, no one ever really called them "cutters"! I drive past that house on Lincoln frequently. But a lot of what is in the movie is gone now, or changed beyond recognition. Still love the movie, though.
God, this movie brings back memories. I saw it years ago (the eighties?) and then again more recently (a year or two ago.) I loved it each time. I had a little more perspective at my recent viewing, being a parent and all. The family scenes were more hilarious and the conversations about youth and opportunity were more poignant.
The ending is one of those sports type, "underdog overcoming everything in the big game" endings. Yet, somehow, it managed to keep all the momentum and feel goodedness (yes, my own word) of these type of endings while not feeling cliched or cheap.
Yay Cutters!!!!
Growing up in Indiana, this wasn't as required as Hoosiers for your educational viewing, but I was lucky enough to have a Dad with both a bicycling addiction and good taste. Love, love this one. The backroad pump sabotage is one of the most disheartening but great scenes I've ever watched.
I love bicycles and I loved this movie.
Mario Zavala: Look up "sophistry" in the dictionary -- your picture illustrates the entry.
I have always considered the wonderful "Breaking Away" to be one of the greatest films no one has ever heard of. The movie actually spun off into a short-lived television series with Jackie Earle Haley. Ironically, Haley was the only established star/actor at the time, having starred in the Bad News Bears films and the psuedo disaster epic "Damnation Alley." It was pretty clear when watching this gem (I saw it at the local neighborhood theater when first released) that Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern were going to have strong careers.
The late Steve Tesich was quite the writing talent at the time, churning out several screenplays and a novel/play or two if memory serves involving, more often than not, growing up in Indiana. "Breaking Away" was based on his own youth, and many of the conflicts in the film have a touch of truth. A unique slice of American life that has not aged in the least. Thanks for reminding us all about the "little film that could" from an extremely great class of films in 1979.
Pika: I guess that's the kind of publicity money can't buy.
Scott: I will certainly have to look into your recommendation.
Mark: one of the charms of this movie is that they didn't seem to even spend a dime on sets. Add the fact that the cast mostly consisted of unknows and I have to think this movie couldn't have cost that much more than THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Well, it did have John Ashton and Paul Dooley so maybe a LITTLE more.
m: the only thing that gives away BREAKING AWAY as a 70s movie are the fads, very obvious on the clips below.
Omar: Thanks for your comment. The single reason I chose to review this movie was the chance somebody out there might pick it up based on my recommendation. To me this is the kind of movie that if you do watch it now for the first time, you won't believe there was something out there, this good, unwatched.
Dana: Paul Dooley's part has to be the better written one in the whole movie. I can't thank Mr. Ebert enough for including the "Refund" clip in this piece, I must have watched it a dozen times (at least).
More than rent it, I believe this movie is a keeper, besides, it is always priced real low just about everywhere.
angel: for years and years I thought the term Cutters came from the fact these guys had cut their education short or something of the like. Great name though.
rini6: one thing I liked about the ending of BREAKING AWAY was seeing the "bad guys" appreciate what the Cutters had acomplished and applaud. Somehow I don't think this would happen on a recent movie.
And yes, as exciting as the ending was, the movie didn't depend solely on it to be great.
I was an undergrad at IU in Bloomington in the late 60s, moved back here in 1983, and have lived here ever since. I live about 5 blocks away from the Lincoln Street house (NW corner of Dodds, for anybody who wants to find it), and smile inwardly every time I pass it. Seeing it and all the other Bloomington locations in the movie is a hoot.
I am confirm Angel's report that we students didn't call the townies "cutters"; instead, we called them "stoneys". To my ears, "stoneys" was a meaner put-down than is "cutters". I always wondered if this was a deliberate attempt to make the movie a little lighter and gentler. In any event, the movie wound up imposing this gentler vision on the real town.
Yes! Thank you for putting this lovely film back on our radar. This is a movie that has stuck with me over the years, a good test of a quality film. I think I love it for the same reason I love "Say Anything": the film shows its characters' stories in the context of their full lives, not a slice of trumped-up drama existing in a vacuum. The families are fully formed with lives and struggles of their own that impact the main characters. In "breaking Away", Dave's parents exist even when he is not on screen. They are not cardboard cutouts of clueless parents, or (a la Disney) they have not been killed off to force a character to strike out on his own.
Gerardo, thank you so much for your post. I loved your comments on this film. It's one of my all-time favorites. I grew up in Urbana, Illinois (like Mr. Ebert), a midwestern college town similar to Bloomington, so I've always felt like I could relate to the characters. But more than that, I simply love a great film -- and this is indeed a great film.
I'm glad that it was pointed out in the comments how the "bad" guys clapped for the "good" guys at the end, and what a nice touch that was. Another nice touch -- a realistic, poignant touch that, in my view, helps to elevate this film -- was how no one was there to congratulate Cyril at the end, and we see him looking around hopefully for -- I would guess -- his father, who doesn't show. The film doesn't ever let you forget that these are real characters. They're having a great moment, yes, but it doesn't "fix" everything.
And it's true what you say about Breaking Away being more romantic than most "romantic" films -- I agree with that 100%!
Joe: I've always felt that the phrase "a great American movie" is used by critics way to often. "Breaking Away" IS the exact definition of a great American movie.
ianam: I'm still to meet a person who's seen this movie and doesn't absolutely love it.
That is with the exception of my good friend Mario with whom I went to school and spent two years discussing movies (and occasionally studying), the curious thing was that in a homeroom of about 80 people, the only 2 with a passion for this subject got to sit side by side, most of the time we agreed but when this didn't happen, it could get ugly. I guess he's always been the Siskel to my Ebert (or vice versa).
Anyway, he's always been kind enough to comment on all my postings and for that I'm very grateful.
But boy, is he absolutely clueless here.
Chris: I don't know if you saw Jackie Earle Haley in LITTLE CHILDREN but in my case, having seen him evolve from a high point in BREAKING AWAY, to such a very frail figure in the former, only made his recent performance all the sadder and tragic.
Eric: for those of us who can't be there, thank God for Google Earth (and for your directions).
Joy: only a movie like this can have one parent telling another (regarding zucchini: for dinner) "I don't want foreign food, I wand my damn French Fries", and get away with it.
Kristine: to such an insightful and kind comment, all I can say is thank you.
As a former competitive cyclist, Breaking Away was a favorite. Along with American Flyers, it is one of the few mainstream, American movies that featured cycling as a focal point of the movie, around which the main characters were developed.
Breaking away is a cycling term referring to a rider moving ahead of the pack on his own, or with others, leaving the main field behind. This became symbolic of the struggle all of us go through to separate ourselves from the pack and assert ourselves as individuals.
When I was in the junior ranks of cycling, it was a pleasure to meet Eddy Van Guyse. He had the distinction of being the rider that put his pump into the front wheel of the character Dave. He is still very involved in the cycling world.
Hi Gerardo,
Great review! I missed Breaking Away the first time around (I was only nine when it was released) but caught up with it about three years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The attached video persuaded me to check out some of your other pieces on YouTube. Particularly enjoyed your thoughts on disaster flicks -- The Towering Inferno remains one of my favorite movies, for better or worse, and the current crop of disaster movies just don't quite measure up, for all the reasons you listed.
Anyway, very enjoyable stuff. Keep up the great work.
I had heard about "Breaking Away" as one of wonderful underdog sport movies for years. Although VHS library in our campus language center had it, I had postponed to watch it several times. And then, in 2006, when Jackie Earle Haley returned with his Oscar-nominated turn in "Little Children", I got interested and finally rented VHS and watched it at home. Maybe the movie shows a bit of 70's, it was still excellent crowd-pleaser to me. Good story and characters are timeless elements. Too bad that VHS, imported from US, had no Korean subtitle. I could have showed it to my family. Worse thing is that VHS library is gone now. What a pity
This film will always have a fond place in my heart. I was first introduced to it by a high school drama teacher who thought it would have an impact on me and it did.
I recently took a plane trip overseas and had hundreds of films to choose from in the in-flight entertainment. As soon as I saw Breaking Away listed I knew I wasn't interested in watching anything else and loaded it up. The guy next to me saw I was getting such a kick out of it he started watching it to.
Paul Dooley deserves a supporting actor Oscar for his role as the dad!
Andreas: thanks for the explanation of the "breaking away" term, it's not too different from what I had in mind but I had no idea it was a cycling term. It's such a great title for this movie.
In my opinion, the characters are the focal point of the movie and it is cycling that surrounds them, still, it's easy to understand why BREAKING AWAY is so beloved by cycling enthusiasts.
Matt: my intention has been focusing on movies I really like that may have been missed by audiences, I know that if I hadn't seen BREAKING AWAY I would have loved for somebody to have recommended it to me. Same goes for THE HUSTLER.
Disaster Films are simply a guilty pleasure of mine but I sure love them. The intro to TOWERING INFERNO with the John Williams score playing over the credits and the helicopter aerial shots is truly exhilarating.
Thanks for your kind comment.
Seongyong Cho: it was so strange to see Jackie Earle Haley in LITTLE CHILDREN. He seems like such a sad figure in this movie but it's great to see he's making the most of his new opportunities. I know he's in Scorsese's SHUTTER ISLAND (that movie doesn't open here until next week) and, if I understand correctly, he's the new Freddy Kruger (who would have imagined?)
Shay: what I liked the best about Dave's parents was that his mother was the dreamer like him and his father was the realist. Not only did Paul Dooley get some of the very best lines in the movie but he really made the character his own. This is one of those roles I can't imagine anybody else playing. His face in the very last shot of the movie when Dave answers his greeting in French is just priceless.
I never gave up on BREAKING AWAY. Seeing it a few years ago, it seemed a little dated, in the way that a summer camp yearbook from your childhood seems dated: faded, but the emotions come back to you slingshot style immediately upon viewing.
I remember seeing BREAKING AWAY, Roger, because you and Gene Siskel said such nice things about it on PBS when it came out. I can still remember you two discussing it like it was yesterday.
God bless films like that, and bless the critics that remember them fondly.
(BTW, I think Jackie Earle Haley really was the star of WATCHMEN (as Rorschach). Seeing him unmasked in the prison sequence, his energy and intensity in BREAKING AWAY hadn't diminished with the years.)
Mario, you're nuts. It's a great movie that people today would love. It's timeless, which is the sign of a great movie. It's my favorite movie.
Gerardo, funny you should bring up Rocky when addressing Mario's comments. It happens to be my second favorite movie. While your comment that if you take away the final fight, there won't be a great movie is true for the sequels, the original is great even without the fight. It is a character study first. Watch it again. Roger gave Breaking Away and Rocky each four stars for the same reason. The fact that in his 1976 review he compared Stallone's performance to a young Brando shows you how impressed he was by the movie.
Breaking Away is one of my all-time favorite films. The characters are terrific, the script wonderful. It's a cliche, but it WILL make you laugh and cry -- mostly laugh. But, it will also make you feel good. Another cliche, but they don't make films like this anymore.
This remembrance of this inspiring film brings back fond memories, but rather than adding my own recollections of seeing the film 30 years ago and finding in a more recent viewing that it still held up well I'd like to touch on one of the more important things Mr. Ebert mentions:
"I live with the idea most of us in the audience are constantly looking for new movies more than for good ones."
Like almost all of art, films are either good, and will always be good, or they are not, and I would argue that the more fruitful viewer would make a point of exhausting all opportunities to experience that which is "good" before looking (hopefully for more "good") among the "new".
The passage of time has not diminished Beethoven, Benny Goodman, Rembrandt, The Beatles, Dickens, Hitchcock or Kurosawa.
Expedience (or the wishes of those in my company) may compel me to take in the occasional "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" or Lady Gaga performance, but until I have exhausted my search for that which is good, it does not seem time well spent if it is used on that which is only new.
Others may choose their own selection criteria - I find no one on earth that I agree with completely. But for films I begin with the IMDB top 250, Berardinelli's top 100 and Mr. Ebert's Great Films series. I am seldom disappointed, I am frequently stimulated to deeper thought and, frankly, life is too short for "The Dukes of Hazzard".
So here's another endorsement for "the good over the new".
David: Great comparison on the aging of BREAKING AWAY. It may be faded but it's also great fun to take out of the shelf and watch.
Ward: While I don't agree with you on ROCKY being great even without the fight, I'll give you this: I admit that in my first viewing I thought that was a great movie but after years of COBRA, TANGO & CASH, STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT, etc., etc., etc., my thoughts on Stallone and his body of work suffered considerably and my hindsight was prejudiced, if that makes any sense at all.
Steve: What sadder scene can there be than Dave crying over his father's shoulders after the race with the italians?
A good comparison with another great film is the recent UP IN THE AIR, a sad (even tragic subject), a movie you spend a great deal of time smiling or downright laughing.
Breaking Away is one of the best movies of all time. A Must See.
I travel to IU a few year ago to watch the Little 500. It was amazing.
Certainly Breaking Away is one of the great films that I'm glad to have seen growing up. I've always been fond of so many parts of it, and it's one of the movies that when you see later you recognize so many people who later became famous.
But overall I think 1979 was probably a fortunate year for movies. In the years leading up to it there were many fantastic movies that influenced Hollywood and allowed higher quality movies (much the way The Yakuza Papers from the mid 70's in Japan allowed The French Connection to build on it).
Breaking Away is also probably still funny today because it makes fun of the hidebound man who doesn't like anything non-American but who matures and decides a good person is a good person regardless of nationality. I think the change in the dad was as big a part of the movie as the change (and ultimately lack of change) in the son was. In some ways movies like Gran Torino are distant and perfected extensions of this.
I've always liked 1979 for movies because it's when The Warriors, The Wanderers, Alien, Apocalypse Now, The Onion Field, Phantasm and so many more wonderful movies came out. But today, thinking about it, I think 1979 was just lucky to come after a ground breaking movies of the years before it.
Breaking away, too, probably got lucky that way. It was just the right time for a movie like that to happen.
Aww ; ) i adore Lady GaGa she's the greatest artist i've ever seen.
Didn't this film also launch Daniel Stern who later went on to "City Slickers"?