This is my absolute favourite coming of age movie! It has an endearing teenage hero, an engaging story, a touching theme, an amazing musical score, and an abundance of humour. The story revolves around Dave Stoller and his three buddies, four misfits who have just graduated from high school.

Dave recently received a bicycle as a gift, has become a good racer locally, and his heroes are the Italian Cinzano racing team. To the consternation of some, his life begins to revolve around his dreams of becoming a racing champion, to the extent that he basically tries to turn himself into an Italian. He learns the language, absorbs the culture, listens to its operas, and gives his cat an Italian name Fellini! 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. His hilarious attempts at becoming Italian, for example shaving his legs like their men but not their women, proved one of the highlights of the movie. The scene where he serenades his Caterina at her sorority house has to be one of the most charming in all filmdom. 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. His three sidekicks are a sympathetic bunch -- the rebellious, angry Mike, the short, feisty Moocher, and the goofy, appealing Cyril who seems to have no family. 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. Dave and his friends are "townies" called Cutters, named for the stonecutters from the town's quarries. The students at the nearby college campus look down their noses at these Cutters. However, Dave's father, who is a car salesman lacking a college education himself, teaches his son to take pride in the name, that it was stonecutters who built these impressive college buildings.

The film is refreshingly unusual in having a major sympathetic role played by Dave's parents. I absolutely loved the father, portrayed by Paul Dooley, the source of much of the film's humour, announcing for example that he doesn't want anything in his house that ends with 'ini'! Mr. Stoller despairs of his son's Italian phase, fearing verbally that Dave is going to wind up an Italian bum! 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. This musical score provides magnificent accompaniment to the bicycle racing sequences, especially one in which Dave is racing the Cinzano truck on a highway heading toward Bloomington!

This is a heartwarming movie that no one should miss. It may be almost thirty years old but its characters and story are as engaging as the day it was released. I won't give it away, but that last scene is priceless!

Dennis Christopher stars as a local cutter in a small college town. He and his friends enter a crucial bike race that can make them or break them. This film offers great insight into its characters. Christopher is exceptional, and has never been better. He is supported by a first rate cast, especially Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley as his mom and dad. Brillantley directed, edited, and scored, plus the film makes very effective use of its beautiful cinmeatography. The ending will have you on the edge of your seat. Now this is what movies are all about,

This moving drama is on my top ten favorite films of all time. And it should have won the best picture Oscar in 1979, instead of Kramer vs. Kramer. Rating: A PERFECT 10 out of 10.

When "Breaking Away" debuted in 1979, it made quite a splash. It was a 'small' film that suddenly broke out from the crowd--gaining a lot of critical attention as well as an Oscar. 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. Additionally, they seem to have a chip on their shoulders, as these so-called 'Cutters' are jealous of the local college students. As for the students, they seem to feel the Cutters are beneath them. One way that these so-called losers can finally feel important involves an upcoming bicycle race--and David (Dennis Christopher) hopes to prove something to himself and the community. Can he and his three working-class friends (including Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern) somehow end up winners?

While a lot of folks adore this coming of age story, I felt very mixed about it. It was exceptional and some of it I really liked (Paul Dooley's character was great as was Barbara Barrie's),but some I didn't. I particularly had difficulty caring for the kids. The Cutters seemed like jerks--as were the college students. Making any sort of connection with them was tough for me. But, the film did combine nice music, a rousing finale and a lot of nice sports clichés into an enjoyable, though perhaps slightly overrated film.