Breaking Away - Movie Review
Why did we, the college kids, hate on townies? Perhaps it has some deep seeded American-settlers root that you never trust the people who rightfully occupy an area you’ve entered. Whatever the case, it went both ways. “Breaking Away” captures this peculiar hatred between the “rich kid” Indiana University students and Bloomington’s “Cutters” perfectly without making it a message movie. There’s no scene of regret from either side as this strange brand of unrequited bigotry does not get solved for all eternity. The school will always be there and so will the townies, so the best the Cutters can hope for is to find peace somewhere in the middle.
Revisiting old movies often requires a large grain of salt, but Peter Yates’ story works on such an elemental level that a 2008 audience can easily get past the haircuts, the heterosexual cut-offs and the fact that the main character looks strikingly similar to Beck. The MVP of hard working mid-western movie dad’s, Paul Dooley can’t see his son Dave amounting to anything but a freeloader. “He’s never tired. He’s never miserable,” Dad gasps. As though inspired by the Queen lyrics, Dave’s just wants to ride his bicycle and will do anything to feel closer to it–even speaking with an Italian accent.
The Oscar winning screenplay might feel a little heavy handed at times to our 21st Century ears, but it’s heavy handed with sincerity. The film received four other nominations, including Best Picture (look up the other nominees that year and tell me how you compare the five without a dart board). If nothing else, screenwriter Tesich certainly deserved considerable credit for writing a virtually cliché-less sports movie. Perhaps bike racing is easier to film (which is to say, “easier to predict the moves to capture with a camera”), but that doesn’t mean the choice to film it wasn’t inspired. Notice the slick camera work during the Italian race where we gracefully turn to follow the leaders and then continue the spin to catch Dave and the rest of the pack. Observe how the drama of the final race builds while we watch the last two laps in another continuous shot. For such a simple and intimate film, it holds a straightforward sophistication modern movies often lack.
