Breaking Away (1979)
93%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
11 wins & 14 nominations total
At once a touching, funny coming-of-age story and a compelling sports film, Breaking Away is a delightful treat.
Breaking Away is a movie that will make you feel like you’re riding a bike down a hill with the wind in your hair. It’s a coming-of-age story, a sports tale, and a glimpse into small-town America all rolled into one. The characters are so relatable and the story is so heartwarming that you’ll be rooting for them all the way to the finish line. Plus, who doesn’t love a good underdog story? It’s a classic that will never get old.
Production Company(ies)
Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Empire Mill Road, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1979
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, Italian, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 18, 1979 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 29, 2002
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie, Paul Dooley, directed by Peter Yates, written by Steve Tesich, comedy, drama, PG, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Linda Holmes, Gene Siskel, Richard Schickel, Dave Kehr, Roger Ebert, Janet Maslin, Matt Brunson, Rob Hunter, Adrian Turner, Mike Massie, Heather Boerner, Dan Jardine, coming-of-age story, sports film, bicycle racing, Bloomington, Indiana, university, snooty students, working-class friends, post-high school, chasing girls, bicycle endurance race, opposition, friendship, small-town America, sexual tension, class tension, economic tension, family values, inspirational story, energetic lead performance, sports drama, growing up, Italian culture, funny moments, heartwarming scenes, heartbreaking scenes
Worldwide gross: $16,424,918
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $71,427,257
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,182
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 7,789,232
US/Canada gross: $16,424,918
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $71,427,257
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 911
US/Canada opening weekend: $17,702
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $76,981
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,044
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $2,300,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $10,002,040
Production budget ranking: 1,667
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,386,099
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $56,039,118
ROI to date (est.): 364%
ROI ranking: 378
Dennis Quaid – Mike
Daniel Stern – Cyril
Jackie Earle Haley – Moocher
Barbara Barrie – Evelyn Stoller
Paul Dooley – Ray Stoller
Peter Yates – Director/Producer
Steve Tesich – Writer
Director(s)
Peter Yates
Writer(s)
Steve Tesich
Producer(s)
Peter Yates
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
11 wins & 14 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (41) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (2)
It’s very, very much worth seeing.
March 14, 2021
Linda Holmes
NPR
TOP CRITIC
I seriously can’t imagine anyone not liking it.
March 14, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
There are a few moments when the picture’s easygoing pace turns into wobbliness, but these are insignificant compared with its many moments of shrewd insight into the lives of amusingly shaded but very recognizable human beings.
August 3, 2008
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Peter Yates, previously typed as an action director, lends the film a fine, unexpected limpidity, and the principals are mostly excellent.
March 21, 2007
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Breaking Away is a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie that makes you feel about as good as any movie in a long time. It is, in fact, a treasure.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 4/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Here is a movie so fresh and funny it didn’t even need a big budget or a pedigree.
May 20, 2003 | Rating: 4.5/5
Janet Maslin
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
A textbook definition of a sleeper hit.
October 11, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Part coming of age comedy, part underdog sports tale, and part glimpse into small-town America, the film is an effortless joy as it explores a tight friendship approaching the inevitable.
March 14, 2021
Rob Hunter
Film School Rejects
Director Peter Yates’s delightfully unpredictable comedy uses a local bicycle race to uncover the sexual, class and economic tensions within an all-American community.
March 14, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Adrian Turner
Radio Times
It manages to be pleasant and upbeat, even as it focuses on the pessimism of uncertain futures and the stresses of small town tedium.
August 27, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Rousing bicycle race story is a family favorite.
December 18, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Heather Boerner
Common Sense Media
Breaking Away embraces the good old fashioned small town family values that would catapult Ronald Reagan to an enormously popular two term presidency. And still, I like it.
July 22, 2010 | Rating: 78/100
Dan Jardine
Cinemania…
Plot
Best friends Dave, Mike, Cyril and Moocher have just graduated from high school. Living in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana, they are considered “cutters”: the working class of the town so named since most of the middle aged generation, such as their parents, worked at the local limestone quarry, which is now a swimming hole. There is great animosity between the cutters and the generally wealthy Indiana University students, each group who have their own turf in town. The dichotomy is that the limestone was used to build the university, which is now seen as being too good for the locals who built it. Although each of the four is a totally different personality from the other three, they also have in common the fact of being unfocused and unmotivated in life. The one slight exception is Dave. Although he has no job and doesn’t know what to do with his life, he is a champion bicycle racer. He idolizes the Italian cycling team so much he pretends to be Italian, much to the chagrin of his parents, especially his used car salesman father, Ray Stoller, who just doesn’t understand his son. Dave crosses the unofficial line when he meets and wants to date a IU co-ed named Katherine Bennett, who, intrigued by Dave, in turn is already dating Rod, one of the big men on campus. Dave passes himself off to her as an Italian exchange student named Enrico Gismondi. Beyond Katarina as he calls her, Dave’s main immediate focus is that the Italian cycling team have announced that they will be in Indianapolis for an upcoming race, which he intends to enter to be able to race his idols. After an incident at the race, Dave, with a little help from his parents and unwittingly by actions of his friends, has to reexamine his life, what he really wants to get out of it and how best to start achieving it.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Dennis Christopher’s character in Breaking Away is obsessed with cycling and Italian culture, leading to some hilarious and memorable moments in the film.
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