Breaking Away 1979
I remember when Breaking Away came out and it being kind of a big deal and got people interested in bicycle racing. Seems like there were a lot of exercise fads then. Then I remember watching it on TV or something and losing interest fairly quickly. Maybe I was watching the DVD I got for free from Kellogg’s in 2007. I ripped all of my DVD"s to digital last year and then recently got interested in Plex and eventually reloaded all of those movies in iTunes. I noticed this movie that I have had forever and never watched and was surprised it had an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and actually won the Oscar for Best Screenplay, which actually I kind of respect more than Best Picture usually. So I loaded it on my iPad and watched it during my commute on the train.
It is funny that by now it seems like a period piece, but the horrible clothes are all authentic. It’s still not much of a movie. It has an unpolished indie small-time feel to it and in fact that’s kind of what it is, but it still had Dennis Quaid in it (surprisingly ripped) and a couple of other stars that would go on to bigger movies. It is about four guys who have graduated high school in Bloomingdale, Indiana, and are figuring out what to do next. They’re not necessarily college material, even with Indiana University in town (and some resentment between the college students and the townies, called “cutters” for cutting limestone in the local quarries). Really there isn’t much of a plot, but they get jobs, girlfriends, argue with the parents, etc. and the main guy takes up training to race bicycles, adopting Italian culture because of his love for the Cenzano bicycle team. I think his obnoxious obsession with Italian is part of what turned me off the first time I watched, but on the train I just let it go. It is amazing that this movie was nominated for any Oscars, but it does do a nice job of showing this key period of a young man’s life and everything ends up pretty well with enough drama to keep it interesting. Not quite as quiet and contemplative as a Sundance film, but not as crazy as something like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, it is in between, which isn’t a bad place to be. It certainly isn’t a classic, but is still worth watching and the story itself is fairly timeless even if the wardrobe and cars are not.
Written: 23 Jan 2019
Owned on: DVD, Digital