Breaking Away (1979)

A small-town boy obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl.

Director:

Peter Yates

Writer:

Steve Tesich

Stars:

Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern

Won 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dennis Christopher	...	Dave
Dennis Quaid	...	Mike
Daniel Stern	...	Cyril
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Moocher
Barbara Barrie	...	Mom
Paul Dooley	...	Dad
Robyn Douglass	...	Katherine
Hart Bochner	...	Rod
Amy Wright	...	Nancy
Peter Maloney	...	Doctor
John Ashton	...	Mike's Brother
Lisa Shure	...	French Girl
Jennifer K. Mickel	...	Girl
P.J. Soles	...	Suzy (as Pamela Jayne Soles)
David K. Blase	...	500 Race Announcer

Storyline

Best friends Dave, Mike, Cyril and Moocher have just graduated from high school. Living in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana, they are considered "cutters": the working class of the town so named since most of the middle aged generation, such as their parents, worked at the local limestone quarry, which is now a swimming hole. There is great animosity between the cutters and the generally wealthy Indiana University students, each group who have their own turf in town. The dichotomy is that the limestone was used to build the university, which is now seen as being too good for the locals who built it. Although each of the four is a totally different personality from the other three, they also have in common the fact of being unfocused and unmotivated in life. The one slight exception is Dave. Although he has no job and doesn't know what to do with his life, he is a champion bicycle racer. He idolizes the Italian cycling team so much he pretends to be Italian, much to the chagrin...

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Plot Keywords:

reference to the barber of seville the opera | working class | class differences | italian culture | speaking italian | 

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Taglines:

Dave, Mike, Cyril and Moocher are... BREAK ING AWAY

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian French

Release Date:

20 July 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bambino

Filming Locations:

Highway 37/Dixie Highway, Indiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,702, 15 July 1979, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$16,424,918

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to "All His Jazz, The Life and Death of Bob Fosse" (1990; Da Capo Press, 1998) by Martin Gottfried, "David Begelman of CMA was looking for a project to interest Bob Fosse after he had completed Sweet Charity (1969). Begelman asked CMA associate Sam Cohn to find something to excite Fosse. Cohn represented Steve Tesich, who had written a screenplay that was being . . . shopped around. It was called The Eagle of Naptown because it was set in Indianapolis. Both Fosse and Begelman were excited about it. They met regularly to work out a production budget. Begelman took the [budget and the] script to David Picker, then president of United Artists, but Picker turned the project down". Ironically, ten years later when the movie was finally made, Tesich won the Oscar for his screenplay, beating out Fosse and Robert Alan Aurthur for their original screenplay for All That Jazz (1979).

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Goofs

The stadium for the final bike race is obviously mostly empty, with spectators being moved around.

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Quotes

Dave: I was thinking of taking French, but, it's my first year. Have you ever seen la Tour de France?
French Girl: No.
Dave: No? Mon Dieu! The French riders - they're the best!

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Crazy Credits

Introducing

Robyn Douglass

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Connections

Referenced in Reba: Skating Away (2002)

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Soundtracks

Il barbiere di Siviglia: Sinfonia
(uncredited)
Music by Gioachino Rossini

User Reviews

Charming Sleeper

I went to see this movie when it first came out. We had decided to go to a double feature of two movies that we had never heard of, knowing that in that day and age, a double feature meant that at least one, if not both movies, had to be pretty awful. The first film was Starting Over with Burt Reynolds, and it was fairly good. So my friends were sure that the other would have to be terrible, but we had nothing better to do, so I convinced them to stay. Before three lines of dialogue I was absolutely hooked. I have seen it at least twenty times and the witty dialogue and rapport of the characters gets me every time. The music accents the film beautifully. The cinematography is gorgeous. But the story is what really matters. Four guys finding there way in a place where they feel little hope for the future, one a dreamer whose dreams are crushed, but he finds the spirit to pick up and start dreaming again. Delightful all the way around.