Top 100 Movies: No. 74 - Breaking Away (1979)
Posted on November 30, 2007
Filed Under Top 100 Movies | 3 Comments
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Ever feel like you don’t fit in - anywhere? Well, the lead character in Breaking Away, Dave Stohler (played by Dennis Christopher), sure can relate.
He didn’t fit in with his “Cutter” friends (he wanted to be an Italian bicyclist). He didn’t fit in at home (he and his father didn’t see eye-to-eye and his mother had some problems relating). He definitely didn’t fit in with the college kids from Indiana University.
What does he do to cope? He pretends to be Italian to get the girl of his dreams - who just happens to be a student at Indiana. Oh yeah, he also rides his bike - a lot.
Breaking Away takes place during springtime in Bloomington, Indiana just as the Little 500 bicycle race (AKA “The World’s Greatest College Weekend”) is about to take place. For those of you not familiar with “Little 5,” this movie will give you a little insight into the sporting side of this event. Maybe someday they will make a movie about the “other” side of the event.
Ultimately this excellent flick is about, you guessed it, trying to fit in and figure out just where your life is headed. This movie also features an early (and excellent) performance by Dennis Quaid.
Tags: bloomington indiana, breaking away, dennis christopher, dennis quaid, indiana university, little 500, the worlds greatest college weekend
