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Breaking Away

  • 19791979
  • PGPG
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
23K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,372
103
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Breaking Away (1979)
Pre
Play trailer2:51
2 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Sport
A working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.A working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.A working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
23K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,372
103
  • Director
    • Peter Yates
  • Writer
    • Steve Tesich
  • Stars
    • Dennis Christopher
    • Dennis Quaid
    • Daniel Stern
Top credits
  • Director
    • Peter Yates
  • Writer
    • Steve Tesich
  • Stars
    • Dennis Christopher
    • Dennis Quaid
    • Daniel Stern
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 122User reviews
    • 70Critic reviews
    • 91Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 11 wins & 14 nominations total

    Videos2

    Breaking Away
    Trailer 2:51
    Breaking Away
    Sneak Previews Season 2 Episode 4
    Video 29:08
    Sneak Previews Season 2 Episode 4

    Photos134

    Barbara Barrie, Dennis Christopher, and Paul Dooley in Breaking Away (1979)
    Dennis Christopher and Robyn Douglass in Breaking Away (1979)
    Dennis Quaid, Dennis Christopher, Jackie Earle Haley, and Daniel Stern in Breaking Away (1979)
    Jackie Earle Haley in Breaking Away (1979)
    Dennis Quaid, Dennis Christopher, Jackie Earle Haley, and Daniel Stern in Breaking Away (1979)
    Dennis Christopher in Breaking Away (1979)
    Breaking Away (1979)
    Breaking Away (1979)
    Breaking Away (1979)
    Breaking Away (1979)
    Breaking Away (1979)
    Breaking Away (1979)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Dennis Christopher
    Dennis Christopher
    • Dave Stohleras Dave Stohler
    Dennis Quaid
    Dennis Quaid
    • Mikeas Mike
    Daniel Stern
    Daniel Stern
    • Cyrilas Cyril
    Jackie Earle Haley
    Jackie Earle Haley
    • Moocheras Moocher
    Barbara Barrie
    Barbara Barrie
    • Evelyn Stohler - Momas Evelyn Stohler - Mom
    Paul Dooley
    Paul Dooley
    • Ray Stohler - Dadas Ray Stohler - Dad
    Robyn Douglass
    Robyn Douglass
    • Katherineas Katherine
    Hart Bochner
    Hart Bochner
    • Rodas Rod
    Amy Wright
    Amy Wright
    • Nancyas Nancy
    Peter Maloney
    Peter Maloney
    • Doctoras Doctor
    John Ashton
    John Ashton
    • Mike's Brotheras Mike's Brother
    Lisa Shure
    • French Girlas French Girl
    Jennifer K. Mickel
    • Girlas Girl
    P.J. Soles
    P.J. Soles
    • Suzyas Suzy
    • (as Pamela Jayne Soles)
    David K. Blase
    • 500 Race Announceras 500 Race Announcer
    William S. Armstrong
    • 500 Race Officialas 500 Race Official
    Howard S. Wilcox
    • 500 Race Officialas 500 Race Official
    J.F. Brière
    • Mr. Yorkas Mr. York
    • (as J.F. Briere)
    • Director
      • Peter Yates
    • Writer
      • Steve Tesich
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The term "Cutters" heard in the film is used to represent Bloomington, Indiana townies who work cutting rock in the local limestone quarries. The production team decided to call the Bloomington townies "cutters" because they felt the actual local nickname ("stoners" or "stonies") would draw a parallel to drug references for viewers who were not raised in the area.
    • Goofs
      When Dave is drafting behind the Cinzano semi-truck, his bike is on the small chain-ring and he is managing to travel at 50+ miles per hour. An earlier shot shows him in the large, and correct, chain-ring behind the semi.
    • Quotes

      Dad: What is this?

      Mom: It's sauteed zucchini.

      Dad: It's I-ty food. I don't want no I-ty food.

      Mom: It's not. I got it at the A&P. It's like... squash.

      Dad: I know I-ty food when I hear it! It's all them "eenie" foods... zucchini... and linguine... and fettuccine. I want some American food, dammit! I want French Fries!

      Mom: [to the cat] Oh, get off the table, Fellini!

      Dad: Hey, that's *my* cat! His name's Jake, not Fellini! I won't have any "eenie" in this house!

      [to the cat]

      Dad: Your name's Jake, you understand?

    • Crazy credits
      Introducing

      Robyn Douglass
    • Connections
      Featured in Sneak Previews: Just You and Me, Kid/The Frisco Kid/Goldengirl/The Villain/Breaking Away (1979)
    • Soundtracks
      Symphony No. 4 in A major (Italian Symphony), Op. 90
      (uncredited)

      Music by Felix Mendelssohn

    User reviews122

    Review
    Top review
    Getting it figured out is like a bicycle race
    In a bicycle race, "breaking away" describes the often-desperate solo move a rider makes in a bid to win the race. Most riders are bunched together for shared protection against the wind, and to keep an eye on their rivals--a group is always more efficient than an individual. But in moments of confusion, a single rider might just get a jump on the group and, with superhuman effort, beat the odds against going it alone and emerge victorious.

    In "Breaking Away" we follow the exploits of four misfits just out of high school who contentedly contemplate a future as dead-enders. They aren't particularly smart, athletic, or good-looking, and they lack any sense of direction in their lives. Moreover, as townies, or "cutters" in a college town, they wear a spell of invisibility in their dealings with the students--the differences are painfully obvious. When they hang out on campus or lamely try to chat up the co-eds, they might as well be ghosts haunting a town they used to inhabit. Something happened when they graduated from high school and didn't go on to college: they became cutters, no better than servants, in their own confused eyes.

    When we meet Dave Stoller (Dennis Christopher) we think, here's a guy who might be able to break out of his own rut. He seems to be a kid with a little more on the ball than the others. But then we see that he's also the most confused--by far. Dave is wrapped up in a fantasy world where he's an Italian bike racer, a champion of a sport virtually unknown in America at the time. That Dave's charming misfits of friends take him and his delusions in stride shows us the bond of their friendship and shared misery, and just how far off the map they've all slid.

    After a chance encounter with a beautiful sorority girl (Robyn Douglass) Dave pretends to be an Italian exchange student in an effort to woo a girl he believes would otherwise be way out of his reach. He draws on his obsessive knowledge of Italian culture and his own quirky charm to fool the girl into seeing him as someone fresh and new, an outsider, but not a misfit. The romance seems to be going somewhere, and Dave feels he's finally breaking away.

    While Dave is conducting his fraudulent personal life he also has an opportunity to race with the Italian bike racers he had worshiped from afar. It's his chance to get recognition from the masters of the sport. He may not have much going as a cutter, but he's certain the Italians will see his racing ability and welcome him as one of their own. But when he shows that he can keep up with them in the race, naively hoping for their approval, they throw him into a ditch. Dave's fantasy world comes crashing down.

    When Dave realizes that the Italians will fight to protect their turf just as much as the Americans he resents, his first reaction is to give up--"everybody cheats" he says resignedly. And he rejects the friends who had looked to him for something more--his three chums and their own struggles, and the sorority girl, who had seen in him something special.

    Only Dave can save Dave, but it is his father's hard words that prompt him into action. To Dave and his friends, a "cutter" is someone who doesn't measure up to the college kids who are going somewhere in their lives. They affect being misfits because a misfit is one rung on the ladder above how they see themselves, which is as losers. But Dave's father points out that "cutters" were the original stonecutters who built the grand buildings on the campus. They may not be college-educated, Dave's father says, but to them "cutter" is a badge of honor for the hard-working men who built something real out of the flat earth. Dave will never be a "cutter", he says, meaning a man of accomplishment, unless he finds something equally real to do with his own life.

    The Indiana Little 500 is a bike race the university holds that is taken very seriously by the groups that participate. At the time, it was the largest race in America, and fraternities counted some of the best American bike racers on their squads. But to Dave and his friends who are invited to race, it is a chance to prove to the students (and themselves) that their lives so far weren't just wasted time.

    Yes, Dave is a gifted bike racer, but we already knew that. But the Little 500 (and life) requires that one rely upon not just inner strength, but the creative use of the strengths of others. It is a team race. What Dave learns when testing himself against these college students that he never felt would give him the time of day, is that the biggest obstacle to his own success was himself.

    "Breaking Away" is a rich visual tapestry of life lived outside the spotlight. The characters are not fancy or sophisticated, and their life goals are simple and well within reach. It is themselves they struggle with, and their perceptions of themselves. "Breaking Away" is the story of kids who had let their own self-image degrade to the point that a fantasy world, and a life of bitter resentment, seemed like their best option.
    helpful•81
    7
    • reviewr
    • Mar 29, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 20, 1979 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Bambino
    • Filming locations
      • Empire Mill Road, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
    • Production company
      • Twentieth Century Fox
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,300,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $16,424,918
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $17,702
      • Jul 15, 1979
    • Gross worldwide
      • $16,424,918
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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