Breaking Away

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Breaking Away

Directed by	Peter Yates
Written by	Steve Tesich
Starring	Dennis Christopher Dennis Quaid Daniel Stern
Release date(s)	July 13, 1979
Running time	100 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Breaking Away is a 1979 film which tells the story of a group of local boys from Bloomington, Indiana who put together a bicycle racing team to compete against intramural teams from Indiana University. It stars Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern (his first film role), Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley. The movie was written by Steve Tesich and directed by Peter Yates.

It is the story of four teenagers who are out of high school and not sure what they want to do with their lives, other than hang out and go swimming in an abandoned stone quarry. They live in a state college town and often get into fights with some of the male university students. In an effort to beat a group of frat boys at their own game, the four guys decide to race in the annual IU Little 500 bicycle race. They race under the name "Cutters" in reference to stonecutters who worked in the limestone quarries in southern Indiana.

The team is based on the 1962 Phi Kappa Psi Little 500 Champions, with legendary rider Dave Blase and team manager Bob Stohler providing screenwriter, and fellow Phi Psi bike team member, Steve Tesich the inspiration for Stoller's character. Blase rode 139 out of 200 laps and was the victory rider crossing the finish line, much like Stoller in the screenplay. Humor is also present in the main character, a local boy who pretends to be an Italian exchange student in order to charm and romance an unsuspecting University girl. His plain midwestern WASP father is puzzled and exasperated by his son's sudden obsession with Italian music and culture which the son associates with bicycle racers.

It won the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Barbara Barrie), Best Director, Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score and Best Picture.

In 1980, a television series version of Breaking Away was released. It starred Shaun Cassidy, Vincent Gardenia, Barbara Barrie, Jackie Earle Haley, Thom Bray, and Tom Wiggin, along with Dominique Dunne who appeared in four episodes.

The Little 500, the bicycle race that forms the centerpiece of the plot, is an actual race held annually at IU.

The film shows a harsh relationship between the students of IU and the people of the town ("townies").

The film holds the 8th place on the List of America's 100 Most Inspiring Movies arranged by The American Film Institute in 2006.

The Little 500 is shown being held in the "old" Memorial Stadium (of Indiana University's campus), which was demolished shortly after the filming of the movie. It had been out of football use since the new Memorial Stadium (which can be seen during the scene in which the Indiana Hoosiers football team is seen practicing) was completed on 08 October 1960. IU's Arboretum is now where the old stadium once was, alongside the campus' main library.