Breaking Away (1979)

Back home in Indiana

Having attended IU my Freshman year ('69/'70), I can attest that Breaking Away was certaingly not filmed on a Hollywood sound stage, but entirely in Bloomington, Indiana as the film's end credits proclaim. It is a delightful movie the whole family can enjoy. It is a relatively short movie with many funny moments (Paul Dooley is fantastic) and for me, reminiscent of my days at IU (the warm waters of the abandoned stone quarries, the beautiful IU library and the Little 500 race to name a few).
Wonderful characters make the story extremely enjoyable. It's one of my favorite movies. ...LAP April 3, 2008

A great American movie set in a real, mythological American place

One of my favorite movies - so different from 99% of Hollywood movies that I am ashamed that my country produces and supports.

This movie is set in a specific place - Bloomington Indiana and the movie does an excellent job of taking us in to the real culture of real people - real Americans and we like these people, we relate to their fears and their dreams.

The hero Dave Stoehler is a romantic dreamer, but his dreams are just an extension of himself and his family. He is stretching things a bit to present himself as a great Italian bicycle racer from a proud, large Italian family. But the reality is that he is great Bicycle racer and his family is a great proud American family, who play Italian opera love songs and it really isn't an act. These are great people and if the cheating, Italian professional bicycle team visiting Bloomington IN didn't see it, everyone else eventually does see it.

The used car salesman father, ex-cutter character is fantastic. And the town of Bloomington IN comes off as a great place - even if there are some mean, spoiled rich IU students there , and even they eventually see some light.

God bless all those who worked to create this gem.

God bless America.

Let's hope we get a few more of these types of movies, maybe once every 20 years. January 14, 2008

One of the few films that stands the test of time

In the 80s when Breaking Away was shown on HBO, my two sons, ages about 10 and 8, and I would watch it every time it was shown. Every time we loved it ... it's the perfect family and kids movie. It is funny without making the comedy come out of weird behavior as in many films today ... the humor in Breaking Away comes out of the story and is a part of it.

As usual with "little" films like this that are off-beat, in essence Hollywood ignored this film at the Academy Awards and it won only for best original screenplay. As others have said, Paul Dooley should have received an award for best supporting actor but was not even nominated. Be that all as it may, this film will outlive so many of the others that won awards ...

I'm watching it on one of the movie channels at the moment and am going to order the DVD immediately. It should be in everyone's collection, at least in the film libraries of those who are nostalgic about America's sort of small towns and anyone else who enjoys a well-written, well-acted, well-directed movie. I'm also buying one also for each of my sons, now in their late 30s and early 40s. I have friends with children who have difficulty finding an enjoyable movie that the whole family can watch together. Aside from its merits as a film, there is another reason for recommending Breaking Away ... it has zero of the elements that parents find objectionable.

There will come a time when this will be regarded as a "period" film and this movie will survive the test of time, as it has done for approximately 27 years already. It is so rare for a movie to feel so real and I'm glad to read some reviews by people who have lived and and gone to school in Bloomington. January 12, 2008

Showing its age

This is a charming little film but it is really beginning to show its age! Nice and eccentric but moves a little slowly at times...as a mad cyclist I loved it December 31, 2007

forgotten classic

Breaking Away is the forgotten classic of 1979. The story of Dave Stoller the Bloomington "cutter", cyclist and would be Italian, who with his friends is in search of his true identity. Brillant performances from dennis christopher, Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern. Why Paul Dooley didn't win an academy award for his brilliant portrayal of Dave's dad is a mystery. The film did win an academy for best original script. There is justice in the world. While the film received a swag of nominations in other areas. A brilliant rites of passage film that belongs in every classics collection. September 27, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...