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Breaking Away
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Breaking Away is a 1979 coming of age film that tells the story of four teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana who have graduated from high school and are not sure what they want to do with their lives, other than hang out and go swimming in an abandoned limestone quarry. It stars Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern (his first film role), Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley. The movie was written by Steve Tesich, whose original working title for the screenplay was Bambino, and directed by Peter Yates.
It 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.
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Encyclopedia
Breaking Away is a 1979 coming of age film that tells the story of four teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana who have graduated from high school and are not sure what they want to do with their lives, other than hang out and go swimming in an abandoned limestone quarry. It stars Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern (his first film role), Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley. The movie was written by Steve Tesich, whose original working title for the screenplay was Bambino, and directed by Peter Yates.
It 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. In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Breaking Away was acknowledged as the eighth best film in the sports genre.
In 1980, a television series prequel, also titled Breaking Away was released.
Plot summary
Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) are adolescent working-class Americans living in a midwestern college town, who often clash with the more affluent college students. The four have just graduated from high school.
Dave is obsessed with bicycle road racing. His down-to-earth, blue-collar father Raymond (Paul Dooley) is puzzled and exasperated by his son's love of Italian music and culture, which the son associates with bicycling, and his precious Italian Masi road racing bicycle. However, his mother Evelyn (Barbara Barrie) is more understanding. Dave masquerades as an Italian exchange student to romance a university co-ed (Robyn Douglass), even serenading her one evening outside her sorority house window.
When a professional Italian bicycling 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 bike pump in Dave's wheel, causing him to crash. Such behavior by his erstwhile heroes leaves Dave disillusioned and depressed.
Dave's friends soon persuade him to form a cycling team for the annual Indiana University Little 500 bicycle race. Using identical AMF Roadmaster track bicycles, the competition promises to be a battle between the wealthy male fraternity members of the university and Dave's group, a classic town and gown confrontation. The latter race under the name Cutters (a euphemism for stoners, the industrial stonecutters who worked the Indiana Limestone quarries of southern Indiana) against university intramural teams. After a series of difficulties during the race, Dave and his friends win the race on the last lap. As a result, Dave reaches a new understanding of himself and his relationships with his father and friends.
Cast
Dooley and Christopher also played father and son in the 1978 film A Wedding and in the 2003 Law & Order: Criminal Intent television episode "Cherry Red".
Barrie, Haley, and Ashton continued their roles in the prequel TV series.
Real-life inspiration
The Little 500 bicycle race that forms the centerpiece of the plot is an actual race held annually at Indiana University. A reenactment of the race was staged for the film in the "old" Memorial Stadium on the IU campus, which was demolished shortly after the filming of the movie.
The team is based on the 1962 Phi Kappa Psi Little 500 champions, which featured legendary rider and Italian enthusiast Dave Blase, who provided screenwriter and fellow Phi Kappa Psi team member Steve Tesich the inspiration for the main character in the movie. Blase, together with team manager Bob Stohler, provided the name of this character: Dave Stohler. In the 1962 race, Blase rode 139 out of 200 laps and was the victory rider crossing the finish line, much like the main character in the film. Blase himself appears in the movie as the race announcer.
Bollywood adaptation
The Bollywood movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar is highly inspired from Breaking Away.
Television series
The television series is a prequel to the film, set during the previous year. Barrie, Haley and Ashton reprised their roles.
Cast:
Recurring:
- Dominique Dunne as Paulina Bornstein (Episodes 2, 5, 6, & 8)
- Shelby Brammer as Nancy (Episodes 1, 4, 5)
- Steve Doubet as Steve (Episodes 2, 4)
- John Ashton as Roy (Mike's brother)
Episode Summaries | # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Airdate |
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In popular culture
In the 2005 Homestar Runner Halloween special, Homestar went as Moocher, complete with Cutters shirt.
On the 2008 release Stay Positive by the band The Hold Steady, a song called "One for the Cutters" appears to be a reference to this movie.
External links
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