BREAKING AWAY (63)

Directed by: Peter Yates (1979)

Starring: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Paul Dooley

The Pitch: A working-class 19-year-old in a Midwestern college town hangs out with his friends, joins in their rivalry with the local college kids, and finds his only real triumph in bicycle-racing.

Theo Sez: Went in fully expecting to dislike this clean-cut, crowd-pleasing coming-of-age story - I'd seen bits on TV, and thought it absurdly over-rated - but I couldn't do it ; 'fact, I doubt anybody could. It's not just the ROCKY-style uplift, or the wonderfully crisp evocation of rural Indiana, or how likeable and goofy everyone is - there's something else, almost a purity of heart to it : it's about youngsters on the brink of cynicism, just on the verge of toppling over, joining the rest of us, yet it stays on their dreams rather than their built-in obsolescence (the scene where our hero comes home after the race with the Italians, his ideals torn to shreds - "Everybody cheats ; I just didn't know it" - is a heart-wrencher). Still over-rated, no doubt a result of being released just when everyone was getting fed up with the dark, gritty 70s : five Oscar nominations (incl. Best Picture) plus a #4 and #2 from Siskel and Ebert respectively is a massive haul for a little movie with a hackneyed narrative, a slightly suspect message (which might be interpreted as "Know Your Place"), about one-third the wit or originality of DINER, and the hero's parents seemingly patterned after Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham on "Happy Days". Have to admire Yates' handling of the climactic race, though, especially the way he doesn't cut to the inevitable medium-shot as the inevitable winner speeds past the chequered flag, keeps it all in a dignified wide-shot ; sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference.