"Breaking Away" was a sleeper hit in 1979 -- the little movie that could. Directed by Peter Yates ("Suspect") and written by Yugoslavian immigrant Steve Tesich -- who won an Oscar for his script -- the story of four young men trying to find direction in their Bloomington, Ind. lives struck a cord with America.
Almost 20 years later, its cliched moments have become more trite and it's stereotypes more stale, but the warmth and heart that made it such a crowd-pleaser when it was released still shines through today.
Zipping down a stereotypically American street, an ecstatic bicyclist sings "O Sole Mio," inspired by the Italian machinery on which he rides. Dave (Dennis Christopher) has chosen to take his post-high school graduation year off. His time will consist of training on his bike, converting to Italian and "doing nothing" with his buddies. His used car salesman father (the wonderful Paul Dooley) defines him as "a lazy freeloader."
He has decided to become Italian because the best bicyclists in the world are. He greets his father with a wet smack and a "buon giorno, Papa," and has gone so far as to rename his cat "Fellini."
Even harder to believe is that he is the most motivated of the three friends he hangs out with. There is Mike (a young Dennis Quaid), who is still trying to relive his high school football glory. Mooch (Jackie Earle Haley) has spent his whole life trying to make for his tiny stature. And for comic relief there's the goofy Cyril, who at least tries to be cool.
"The system" is made up of the working townies whose path they are likely to follow and the preppy college students whose leisurely life attracts them. In Bloomington Indiana, the home of Indiana University, non-college affiliates are called "Cutters," due to the local stone cutting industry. The term forces these boys to have low self images and to hate a university system ungratefully built upon the Cutters' blood and sweat.
The contrasting shame and pride of being Cutters confuses the boys. Dave's inner soul is pushing him to go to college, while his father constantly yells "What's wrong with working? ... I didn't go to college."
Posing as an exchange student, he courts a college girl (Robyn Douglass). Serenading her in the wee hours of the night with his fresh Italian threads and Cyril providing the guitar accompaniment, he stands in the stark contrast to the giggling, wealthy, night-gowned sorority girls above. But of course, she turns out to be the girlfriend of a buff, good looking Cutter-basher Rod (Hart Bochner).
The typical "good guy, bad guy" plot , which reeks of "The Karate Kid," plays out through various tests of strength between Rod's gang and the Cutter gang. The tests are climaxed by an exciting, if predictable bike race, in which Dave's determination shines.
Filmed in and around Bloomington, "Breaking Away" leaves the audience with a true feeling of the town and its people, although the college students are assumably shipped in from California -- or maybe from Vogue or GQ. Take your pick.
"Breaking Away" is being shown tonight in the Loew theater as part of the film series Up Stairs/Down Stairs which aims to illuminate class struggles.
