I was really surprise that so many people do not know about this film. It has a really good plot that works though out that film. The acting so really good and music was top notch. Everything fell in to place so well. A must see.

"Breaking Away" from 1979 was directed by Peter Yates, and tells the story of four young men right out of high school, a turning point in their lives. Do they stay in their small town and get jobs? Go to college?The four guys -- Dave, Mike, Cyril and Moocher are played by Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Jackie Earle Haley and Daniel Stern. Someone mentioned that of the four of them, the only one who had any "real" career is Dennis Quaid. He's had the biggest career, but the rest of these guys are still going strong.Having just seen Dennis Quaid in "Truth," seeing him in this was a shock -- a total baby. And I mistook Hart Bochner for Christian Bale. I used to love Hart Bochner, who in the '80s starred in a lot of big TV miniseries.The four guys are best friends. It's summer in Bloomington, Indiana, which is a college town. As locals, they are part of the town's working class, and their parents worked at the limestone quarry. As a result, the boys are known as "cutters." The quarry is now closed and has become a swimming hole.There's a rivalry -- a hatred, really, between the wealthier students and the local kids, which is strange as the locals worked the limestone used to build the university. Now it's too good for them.The guys are unmotivated, without much in the way of ambition or discipline. Dave is the exception. He bicycle race. He loves the Italian cycling team and rides around town practicing Italian and speaking it at home, which drives his grounded father (Paul Dooley) nuts. Then Dave meets an IU student, Katherine, who is dating a hot-shot, Rod (Bochner, who else). To impress her, he claims to be an Italian exchange student.When he learns the Italian cycling team will be racing in Indianapolis, Dave is in heaven, ready to enter and race. But an incident there causes him to rethink his goals.Such a wonderful story about floundering young men - for some reason, it seems to take guys longer to find their way, and these kids are no exception. Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie are hilarious as Dave's parents, really adding to the film.Basically this movie, with its beautiful scenery (all filmed in Indiana) and wonderful bike races is about breaking away from the pack in more ways than one - making a decision not just about a career, but how you will tackle life mentally and emotionally. It's a tough lesson but it's well learned.Highly recommended - certainly one of the best films of the '70s.

Breaking Away is one quirky, but entertaining film. It's the story of four young men in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. As it is set in a real place in time it's far more than entertaining, it's a serious sociological study of the rust belt Midwest which if anything has gotten a whole lot rustier. The four kids Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley have grown up in Bloomington in the shadow of the University of Indiana which their parents built out of the limestone quarry that used to be the town's chief employer. Yet the kids feel it forbidden to them. Of course these four look like a singularly unmotivated group.The latter three seem almost resigned to their fate. But Christopher has constructed a fantasy world of his own involving bicycle racing and it's the Italians whom he sees as kings of the sport. He plays Italian opera records, speaks in the pidgin Italian he's learned and that just drives his father Paul Dooley to distraction. Dooley was among the many who used to work in the quarry and now he sells used cars, not a profession with a lot of dignity attached to it and it certainly fits Dooley.In the end though its Dennis Christopher and his fantasies and quirks that affords an opportunity for the group to score a needed victory over the outside visitors temporarily in residence at the college dormitories. Watching Breaking Away I was struck by the fact that Bloomington, Indiana is a microcosm for where I live now. Buffalo, New York was a thriving industrial city where the industry over the last half of the last century just moved away. But Buffalo is also the center of a cluster of colleges and in many ways we've become a giant college town with a lot of students temporarily in residence. Many more locals do go to the colleges here, but are as frustrated as our four protagonists in not finding jobs here. Look at Jackie Earle Haley in a great scene where he reports to work at a carwash.In the end credits the producers thanked the town of Bloomington for its participation in the making of Breaking Away. In truth the town itself is as much a character as any of the human cast members.It might be interesting to do a sequel to Breaking Away in Bloomington to see how it and life have changed there.

Best friends Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) are aimless working class recent high school graduates in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana. Dave's obsession with bicycling and Italian leaves his father confounded. The guys swim in the abandoned quarry. The college kids call them Cutters for the workers who cut the limestone to build the colleges. Mike is the former quarterback angry at the rich college kids since college is always beyond him. Dave falls for college girl Katherine while pretending to be an Italian student.Dennis Christopher is ostensibly the lead actor. His character is a little too naive. Dennis Quaid delivers the most powerful performance. His swimming race with the college kid at the quarry is a highlight. There are some funny moments centering mostly with Dave and his Italian obsession. This isn't the newer National Lampoon SNL type of humor. It's gentle and sweet. Paul Dooley is hilarious playing the father. There are great touching moments. This is a fine coming of age movie.