Breaking Away (1979)

I was at a wedding reception this past summer and had a conversation with the grooms brother-in-law in which we swapped favorite movies. Mine the 1956 George Steven's helmed family epic 'Giant', his the 1979 coming of age story 'Breaking Away'. I was only tangentially aware of 'Breaking Away', but on Youtube came across the 1979 best of the year episode of 'At The Movies' and found it among the favorites of  both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Written by Serbian-American Steve Tesich and directed by Peter Yates (principally an action director, 'Bullitt', 'The Friends of Eddy Coyle', 'Mother, Jugs & Speed'), 'Breaking Away' centers around four friends, poor kids, finding their way post high school in Bloomington, Indiana. Bloomington is a college town, home of the University of Indiana, and these four can't afford and/or are not academically inclined enough to attend, so instead they exist in a mostly lethargic extension of the summer after senior year, their inability to progress in life contrasted with the energy of the college kids around them.

The partial exception to this is our lead character Dave Stohler, played by Dennis Christopher, the only one of the four I didn't immediately recognize, the others being played by Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley. Dave has become obsessed, consumed with a passion for Italian competitive bicycling and indeed for all things Italian. He speeds around town on his bike shouting Italian greetings, crosses himself despite being protestant and gets on his fathers nerves with his Italian food, and music and calling him "papa". He's aimless but happy, and then he meets and falls for a pretty college girl (Robyn Douglass) who mistakes him for an Italian exchange student, so he decides he must keep up the ruse. He also learns that an Italian competitive cycling team is coming to town and prepares to compete against them. There are also various subplots concerning Dave's friends and his parents, who are good people but just befuddled by their son.

The movie proceeds along quite enjoyably but about 2/3rds through something happens that causes it to shift gears from good to great. Not to give too much away but it earns an ending that would be schlock in lesser hands, and it deepens relationships that at first get mostly surface treatment. There are loads of little moment that I could rave about but the movie should be experienced first. Both feel good and intelligent, a difficult combination to get right, 'Breaking Away' is an understated little movie that time forgot, but that should be remembered. ****