Breaking Away! Old indie movie... goes BIG

[salin]

so I am hitting a deadline and supposed to be working through all weekend (didn't quite - so was up working by 5am - and made the mark!) when I stop to grab a bite and sit with the not so well dog. "I'll just quickly flip through the channels on the tv... won't really stop to watch anything..." And there on AMC (which I rarely watch since it was bought up and seriously reformatted)... were the opening scenes of Breaking Away. Oh Sole Mio... I had to stop and (re)watch the entire movie. Was that Dennis Quaid's big break?

I remember when the movie was made (locally) - it was a huge deal. But folks knew that it was a small independent movie, and didn't expect a movie about town and gown rivaleries centering around a bike race to become a sortof underdog movie favorite.

Anyone else love the movie? Or is it just my local bias showing through...

[Pobeka]

1. I liked it, haven't seen it in a long time. I too am biased

I was born in Bloomington, parents still live there.

[salin]

2. No kidding -

me too... I kept leaving (have lived dc, detroit/ann arbor, and the bay area) and keep coming back. Cool little college city.

[Pobeka]

4. Yeah, it's ironic my parents aren't into much culture

Since there are some cool places in Bloomington.

Like the Irish Lion, Snow Leopard (is it still there?)

[salin]

5. Indeed the Snow Lion is still open... and did you know

it is owned by the brother to the Dalai Lama? This is why he comes through town periodically, much to the chagrin of the (greatly outnumbered in this town) more fundieright citizens of our town.

Irish Lion is great as well. As is my favorite - Le Petite Cafe.

[Pobeka]

14. Snow lion, yeah, yeah that's the name

and I did know it was owned by a relative of the Dalai Lama.

[Capn Sunshine]

3. GREAT movie

Who knew back then ?

Not only Dennis Quaid
Daniel Stern--underrated IMO, works all the time

[salin]

6. he was very good. As was the star

who later appeared in a smaller but still decent role in Chariots of Fire.

[tridim]

8. Don't forget Jackie Earle Haley!

The oddest third string actor ever. I'm still waiting for 'Bad News Bears IV'.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

7. Go Cutters

Good flick.

[WilliamPitt]

9. Refund? REFUND?

Great movie.

[Armstead]

10. I saw it on TV many moons ago and just saw it again too

Good movie on its own terms. Good characters and something we can relate to here where we have the rich New Yawkers and "the locals" which is our version of "Cutters."

[VelmaD]

11. I remember when...

that movie was on HBO what seemed like every day.

[pmbryant]

12. That was a classic

I didn't know it was an independent film. Always loved it.

--Peter

[HuckleB]

13. Always have. Always will.

There are far too few great bicycle movies in this world, after all.

[gold_bug]

15. I love that movie

I've seen it maybe 10 times and it never gets old.

[DoctorBombay]

16. Oscar Winner for Best Original Screenplay

Terrific little film. We need more of these types of films made and, more importantly, seen.

The writer, Steve Tesich, was actually born in Yugoslavia before emigrating. He died in 1996.

[BigMcLargehuge]

17. love every bloody frame of that movie!

ever since I first saw it as a young teen. A stellar coming of age story about those confusing years when high school is over, college is pretty much out of reach, and the kids have to resign themselves to a life of hard labor.

The best scene in the flick, for me, is when Dennis Christopher and his dad are sitting on the college campus and Dennis Christopher says "I'm a cutter." and his dad, putting the whole movie into perspective says, "you're not a cutter."

Of course Dennis Christopher never worked (and would never work) in the quary.

Makes me want to watch it right now.