Dec. 17, 2025

Breaking Away (1979) - Peter Yates (Encore)

Breaking Away (1979) - Peter Yates (Encore)
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Breaking Away (1979) - Peter Yates (Encore)
Breaking Away (1979) - Peter Yates (Encore)

Breaking Away (1979) Podcast Review — Why This Coming-of-Age Classic Still Matters Breaking Away (1979) is more than a cycling movie—it’s one of the most honest American coming-of-age films of the 1970s. In this episode of The Cinematic Flashback...

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RSS Feed podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon Apple Podcasts podcast player icon iHeartRadio podcast player icon PlayerFM podcast player icon Podchaser podcast player icon YouTube podcast player icon
Breaking Away (1979) Podcast Review — Why This Coming-of-Age Classic Still Matters

Breaking Away (1979) is more than a cycling movie—it’s one of the most honest American coming-of-age films of the 1970s. In this episode of The Cinematic Flashback Podcast, host Chuck Bryan and co-host Matt revisit Peter Yates’ Academy Award–winning sports drama and explore why its story of class, identity, and growing up still resonates decades later.

Set in Bloomington, Indiana, Breaking Away follows four working-class friends—known as “cutters”—as they struggle to define their futures in the shadow of Indiana University. At the center is Dave Stoller (Dennis Christopher), a young man obsessed with Italian cycling culture and desperate to escape the expectations of his father, played memorably by Paul Dooley. The film builds toward the legendary Little 500 bicycle race, using sport as a metaphor for adulthood, pride, and self-worth.

In this episode, Chuck and Matt discuss:
  • Why Breaking Away remains one of the most relatable 1970s coming-of-age movies
  • The film’s portrayal of class tension between townies and college students
  • Dennis Christopher’s Oscar-nominated performance as Dave Stoller
  • Paul Dooley’s deeply human portrayal of a frustrated, loving father
  • How the Little 500 functions as both a sports climax and emotional reckoning
  • Why this is a rare sports movie that works just as well as a family drama
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and ranked among the AFI’s greatest sports films, Breaking Away endures because it understands something timeless: growing up isn’t about winning—it’s about figuring out who you are and where you belong.

Whether you’re revisiting the film or discovering it for the first time, this episode makes the case for Breaking Away as a quietly powerful classic that still grooves through the decades.

🎧 Did Breaking Away groove—or did it lose its beat?
Hop into the Wayback Machine and find out.

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WEBVTT

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You're listening to an encore presentation of the Cinematic Flashback Podcast.

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Welcome to the Cinematic Flashback Podcast. Get ready to hop

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into the wayback machine as we journey through the wild, bold,

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and unforgettable films of the nineteen seventies. Each episode will

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break down a classic or not so classic movie with

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a fun crush approach. We'll explore the who's who of

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each film, dive into the premise and plot, see how

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it performed then and now, and wrap things up with

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did it groove through the decades or lose its beat?

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I am your host, Chuck Bryant, and with me today

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is Matt Sargent. Matt, you recommended today's film? What year

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am I setting the wayback machine too?

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Let's set it back to nineteen seventy nine. We're talking

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about Breaking Away, which I saw as a young person.

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It's a great film recommended to me by an adult

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when I was about to turn eighteen. I didn't think

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much of it. I thought it would be a terrible

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movie to watch, but I didn't have anything else to do.

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I went to see it on Thanksgiving during Thanksgiving dinner

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because I was a wrestler and I needed to make

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weak for a tournament, and I could not partake in

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Thanksgiving dinner. So my friend and I needed to do

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something away from the house to get away from the food.

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So we said, oh, we'll go to see this movie.

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And we went and saw it and we got out

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of that movie and we were hands above our heads.

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We're so jazzed after we got out of that movie.

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I think we actually did pretty well in that tournament.

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So it was a great experience for me, and it

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was one of those movies that hits kind of right

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on time based on my age.

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How would you summarize this film?

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The film involves these four young people who are growing

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up in Bloomington, Indiana, that is home to the Indiana

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University IYU, and so there's the whole people that live

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in the town and people that go to the school,

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type of dynamic going on, and these four friends are

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possibly or possibly not going on to college. Lot of

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confusion in sort of the past, their parents, their dads

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all worked at cutting Stone, which built the university. So

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in the movie town people are called cutters, so there's

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a little bit of you know, us versus them kind

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of thing. I think this is at the heart of hearts,

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a story of how young men and their fathers relate

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or don't, and that's some of the fun to this movie.

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I would also say this is a great family film.

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It is. There is some language, but there's absolutely no

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gratuitous sex or really adult situations. There's some innuendo, but

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not much. You could watch this with your grandmother, you

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could watch it with your twelve year old or thirteen

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year old. I think compared to movies today, it's absolutely

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screwy clean.

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This is my first viewing based on your recommendation. I

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was aware of the film. I remember the advertisements for

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this film and I walked away from it as it's

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a sports film, and it was a sports film about cycling,

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which I was not really interested in. But now watching

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it today, I think this is going to make an

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appearance either at Thanksgiving or Christmas, when the family is

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together to watch a film that I'm sure they haven't seen.

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We are going to talk about things in this movie

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that could possibly ruin it for you or tell you

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how things turn out. But if you don't want any

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kind of spoiler, you know, I encourage you to go

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see it now and then come back to the video

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and you'll enjoy some of our comments, maybe more. Even

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if you listen to this and then go see the movie,

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I think you will still enjoy it. But the main

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thing for me is you should go get it so

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you can watch it.

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Work at someone go to get this movie if they

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want to watch it.

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You can pick it up for about four bucks from

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major streamers, and I think it's well worth it. You

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might be able to find it free in somebody's pile

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of tvds or something like that, but it's about four

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bucks and well worth it.

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And Ricos Yamande spends eight hours a day training to

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be the finest gracer in all of Italy.

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But ed Rico has a problem. He's not in Italy.

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He's in Bloomington, Indiana, Faba Bob.

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And he's not Enrico Jamande.

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I should have hit him when I had the chance.

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He's been dead.

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Now, Oh God, the sentiment.

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Of he's Dave's stolen. He was as normal as pumpkin pie,

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and now it's b But Dave's not crazy.

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He's never tired, he's never miserable.

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He's on the road to adulthood. When I was young,

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I was tired and miserable.

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You are numero Onopa, and he's decided to take a

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little detour at the age of nineteen.

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What are we gonna do about him?

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I don't know, dear.

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We could always strangle him.

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While he's a sleeping Twentieth century Fox presents Breaking Away,

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the story of four guys and imminent danger of turning twenty.

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All right, how you doing, guys?

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Well, we're a little disturbed by the developments in the

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Middle East.

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But who refused to give up immaturity? Would how to fight? Smart?

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Move shorty?

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Yeah, moy to time, wind you love.

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Wind up a bum Italian bumb.

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I'll tell me either ask to get a job or

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go to college.

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Hell, I don't want to go to college.

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Dad, The hell with them?

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What are you afraid?

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Yeah, a little bit.

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The only thing I'm afraid of is wasting the rest

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of my life with you, guys.

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I thought that was the whole plan.

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Oh, we were going to waste the rest of our

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lives together.

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I'm leaving soon.

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I wish you're a nice trip too.

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I'm not going anywhere. I don't know about that.

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Breaking Away Somewhere between growing up and settling down, it

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happens to all of us.

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Breaking Away has a really great cast, and there are

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a lot of actors you're going to recognize, but they

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are so young. In fact, you recognize almost immediately from

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the movie City Slickers or Home Alone Daniel Stern, but

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this was his first movie, playing the friend Cyril. Their

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main character's name is Dave Stoler, played by Dennis Christopher.

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He was in Chariots of Fire. He's been in a

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lot of films. He even worked on an Italian film,

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and so in this movie he speaks Italian, and he's

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speaking Italian. You'll also recognize a very young Dennis Quaid

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playing Mike. Someone you may or may not recognize is

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Jackie Earle Haley. He plays the little friend Moucher, the

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little guy who eats three meals a day but burns

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off about five.

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And the reason why I say you may not recognize

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him is because in many of his movies his face

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is completely obscured. Whether he's playing Orshack in The Watchman,

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or he's reprising the role of Freddy Krueger in the

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remake of a nightmarel Net and Matt, you remember him

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for another movie.

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So there's a I don't know what you call it,

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sort of animated movie, but it's animated live action. It's

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Alita Battle Angel came out a couple of years ago.

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He is the voice for Gruishka, who is the giant

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kind of super cyborg. This movie is, you know, sort

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of where people are partially or almost completely robotic. He's

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this giant thing that Alita who is. You know, it's

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just a cool story. But she goes into battle with

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him quite a few times in this whole movie, and

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his voice is absolutely distinctive. It's great. Yeah, he also

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did some other voiceover work. I don't have it at

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my fingertips. As soon as you hear his voice, you'll

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recognize that he appears as a wonderful voice actor, which

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is actually a secret. If you talk to Hollywood actors,

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voiceovers is bread and butter. They love them because they

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make a ton of money. It's easy work. They come

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into the studio, do their voiceover, the head up and

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get a check. They love it. Yeah, that's great.

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I saw Alita Battle Angel on video and that's a

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film that I really wish I would have seen in

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the theaters. I really enjoyed the story, but just from

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the technical aspect, it was really good. The film looks fabulous.

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Yeah, no, it's great. I would definitely recommend that as

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well as when you look at this, it's a cool story.

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Matt, who do we have played the mom and the dad?

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The mom and dad. That dad is played by Paul Dooley.

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He's a character actor in We only have one listed

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here as Strange Brew is Uncle Claude el Zanor.

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So I put that in because Strange Brew is one

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of my guilty pleasure films. It's a rip off of

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the story Hamlet. In fact, they claimed Hamlet stole their script,

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or of Shakespeare stole their script. Paul Dooley plays Uncle

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Claude elsin Or in the film, and it's dumb.

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Fun When you see that actor, you'll recognize him. He

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plays he's been Uncle Goof. He's great, absolutely great in

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this film, very good and funny.

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When he auditioned for this part, he was coming from

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he had just wrapped up his previous film and they

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wanted him to come in and do a table read.

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But not just like three pages. They wanted him to

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do the entire table read with the entire cast. And

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you know he's going there and he's looking at the script,

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he's reading it through and then it just it hits him.

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He said, Oh my gosh, this character is my dad.

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He knew immediately where to pull inspiration from to pull

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this father.

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He does a great job the relationship between Dave Stoler

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and his dad. These two actors, they really play it well.

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And we'll talk about a little bit more. And then

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the mom, Barbara Barry, she's a great supporting character in

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this movie. She plays the interface between the dad and

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Dave perfectly. She's wonderful in the movie.

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This is not the first time she's played either you know,

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a mom or a wife.

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Sure again.

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Barbara is a actress who has been recognized in many

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different films and TV shows. I recognized her from Barney

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Miller because, like all in the family, Barney Miller was

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another staple. I don't believe I ever saw Private Benjamin.

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I do recall the movie she played Goldie Hans's mother

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in that.

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I did see that movie, but I'd have to rewatch

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how she played it similar I'm sue sure, yes, like that.

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And how about Kathy or Catherina.

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She's the love interest.

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Yes, she's played by Robin Douglas, who was also very

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young in her career. She went on to play opposite

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Steve Martin The Lonely Guy. She also played Jamie Hamilton

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in Galactica nineteen eighty.

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I remember it, but I was not a Galactica fan.

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I remember seeing it a bit, but not much so.

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That brings us to Rod.

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Rod is played by Hart Backner and he is the

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main antagonist to Dave and the friends in the movie.

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He is also competing for the love interest of Kathy.

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Looking over his filmography, the one movie that stood out

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to me was my favorite Christmas movie.

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Diehard Hans Bobby, I'm Your White Night.

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That's amazing. That's so funny. You see these actors pop

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up in these odd roles. It's interesting of these careers unfold.

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We'll take a quick intermission here, just enough time to

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grab some popcorn or top off your drink. You're listening

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to the Cinematic Flashback podcast. Stay tuned. The show continues

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right after this and we're back. Hope you enjoyed that

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brief intermission. Now let's roll the next reel and get

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back into the conversation.

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The movie was directed by Peter Yates.

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Peter Yates has had a long career in Hollywood. He

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directed nineteen sixty Eights Bullet. He went on to direct

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the movie The Dresser as well as Krull. Steve Tessich

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was the writer for the film. He's known for the world.

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According to Garp and American Flyers, he wrote the source

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material as well. Right he did, and I have a

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story about that. Breaking Away was nominated from multiple awards

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at the Academy Awards that year. It was nominated for

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Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song,

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Score and its Adaptation, and one for Best Screenplay, accepting

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that award with Steve Tussig. This film is known as

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a sports film. Breaking Away is on American Film Institute's

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ten Top ten in the Sports Film category and also

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it makes appearance on AFI's one hundred years one hundred

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Cheers list as the eighth most inspiring film of all time,

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and Kareem Abdul Jabbar named this his fifth favorite sports film.

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That's amazing, pretty funny and retrospect. I did not note

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it won an Academy Award, which is amazing, and it

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got nominated for so many other things. It's pretty impressive.

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The core beauty of this film is the story, and

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I think that's what he got an Academy Award for

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so that got it right this time, I think.

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So, Matt. One of the interesting things about Steve Tessig

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was he was originally born in Yugoslavia and then migrated

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to the United States with his family when he was

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about fourteen years old. In fact, he says he learned

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English by watching Western films, even to the degree that

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he thought that when they got to Chicago that they

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were going to be greeted by a cowboy on a horseback.

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Steve graduated from Indiana University and was a member of

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the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, where he participated in the

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Little five Hundred, which is a subject of the movie

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we're watching today because it is an annual bicycle race

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known as the World's Greatest College Weekend, and this is

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an event that features four person teams competing around a

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quarter mile track, competing two hundred laps or about fifty miles.

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So in nineteen sixty two, Steve Tessich's team one the

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Little five hundred, and he wrote a story about that

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focused on his teammate named Dave Blaze, who rode one

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hundred and thirty nine of the two hundred laps. He

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submitted this as a draft treatment and the story got shelved,

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so he started working on another story that centered around

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the limestone workers of Bloomington, Indiana, and they were colloquially

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known as Stony's, but due to that terms association with

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drug use, it was changed to cutters, and the story

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highlighted the themes of social class tension, friendships, and the

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desire for a better future. When Peter Yates became involved,

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he recognized that Steve could combine both of these two stories,

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and that is the film that we know today is

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Freaking Away.

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That is a cool story on how something developed in

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someone's head and what a great story of an immigrant

280
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coming to the United States and reaching for their dreams

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and succeeding. Is amazing. When you watch this movie, you

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will see those two parts of the story well worked together.

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We talked about the conflict not between the kids, but

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that the kids are they've graduated from high school, their

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parents all went on to work as Stoney's or cutters

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in the movie, but basically work at the quarries and

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cutting facilities in the town. That was like if you've

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seen movies where the kids grow up and become coal miners,

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you know, it's like everybody's going to be a coal

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miner until you have a kid who shoots off rockets

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and then goes off and works for NASA. So it's

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definitely a story we've heard before. But in the difference

293
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here is the stone cutting is largely complete. They are

294
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not hiring tons of people. So these guys, you know,

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they're what are we going to do? What are we

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going to do for work? And of course a couple

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of them actually, you know, go into a college entrance

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exam on the slide. They don't want to tell their

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friends they might be going to college.

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And the main character, Dave, has a very interesting persona.

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An Italian bicycle rider, and he you find in the

302
00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.720
movie his mother makes mentioned that he was quite sickly

303
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as a young child and that once he got on

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a bike, he really it really sort of his he

305
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really got much healthier. It's great exercise in exploring the sport.

306
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He looks to the best riders in the world, the

307
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best of the best. At the time, the Italian riders

308
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were the best. He takes on the persona starts speaking

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in Italian, Oh, Mama and Papa, much to the father's chagrid.

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There's a hilarious line where two old couples sitting on

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the porch and they hear him singing an Italian as

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he goes riding on his bicycle pie he used to

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be just a good boy and.

314
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Lamenting for the parents like I'm so sorry if you

315
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get there, which is funny. I mentioned this before, but

316
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this was a good allegory for suing people just speaking

317
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a different language than their parents. The parents just not understanding,

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you know. And you see in the father he's super

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frustrated but also not He's like what is he going

320
00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.000
to do? He needs his suffer like I did. The

321
00:17:57.079 --> 00:17:59.720
mom is kind of like you gotta roll with the punches.

322
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That's a beautiful part of the story, how that relationship

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is in this form language. It's a lot of funny

324
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humor and drives one of the core conflicts in the movie.

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He's riding through campus and he's on his bike, and

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an occasion happens that he can rescue a damsel in

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distress by delivering to her a notebook, her note that

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she had actually had dropped. She's on her scooter and

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he's on his bike, and then was that as Yeah,

330
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it was a vespa like, I think that is what

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I thought.

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Maybe he's sitting there and sees this beautiful young lady

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hop onto a vespa and that all just works with

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his Italian.

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Hilarious vespas or not, it's hugely prevalent, a bit of

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a stretch, it's a great thing to get around campus.

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But the funny part is that sets up this thing

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where a case of semi mistaken identity. This girl believes

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this is an Italian exchange student. He lets it go on,

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he romances her, and so obviously we can we can

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roll forward and know that that's going to have to

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be resolved way as it goes forward.

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When the film opens up, we are introduced to this

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friend group of four young guys. They all just quit

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their job at the a MP. One of the areas

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that they go to escape life is to the quarry

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that has now filled up with water.

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Sure, I think the other thing to take away from

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this is where they go to seek solace and be

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semi alone. Are the holes their father's dug. There's a

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line where the only thing we've left behind are these holes.

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It's interesting because part of the conflict in the movie,

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obviously between the people that live in the town and

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the people who live in the college, which is you know,

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this is the same thing virtually every college that has

356
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a small town, a small town that has a university

357
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at it, you have some of this type of dynamics.

358
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The college kids come to the quarry and that sets

359
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up some conflict.

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So when Dave is beginning to romance and pursue Kathy,

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he realizes she has a boyfriend, Rod, who is the

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rich kid.

363
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Rod in this movie is I mean, he's extremely handsome,

364
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he has a beautiful car, he's on the swimming team,

365
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he is in a fraternity, so he is sort of everything,

366
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you know, everything that he has, he knows what he wants,

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and that is you know, in direct contrast to this

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group of four. And so there's some conflict there and

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and part of this movie is exploring that conflict. I

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will say, you know, the relationship between Kathy and Rod

371
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seems like a boyfriend and girlfriend, but it may be

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that period of a relationship where things have gotten a

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little stale because he doesn't woo Kathy anymore at all.

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And Dave in the movie is going all out.

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He serenades or he does the whole serenades, or he

376
00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:56.200
gets his friend Cyril to play the hilarious oh and

377
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he sings this for a song, which while he's singing,

378
00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:02.519
things are a foot back at his mom and dad's house,

379
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so you see the romance from both generations starting to blossom.

380
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To yees very sweet. He's outside the door, outside the

381
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dorm or sorority house. They're hanging out the window and

382
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in that scene ends beautifully. It's fun.

383
00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:19.079
She's very smitten by the persona of that Dave is

384
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portraying to her.

385
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It's really interesting, and of course, at us being on

386
00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:27.279
the other side of the proscenium watching the action, we

387
00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.839
know that something is building, something's going to go wrong,

388
00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:35.440
because at some point in the future, Dave's pretending to

389
00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:38.559
be Italian is going to be laid bare, and we

390
00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:42.799
realize that Katherina or Kathy has started to have feelings

391
00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.319
for this character. We're just waiting for something to happen,

392
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and it does.

393
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Will Paul's here for just a moment. Think of it

394
00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:53.400
as a real change stick around. There's more cinematic flashback

395
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coming up right after this, and we're back. The lights

396
00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.559
are down, the film's rolling, and the final act begins.

397
00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.839
Let's jump back into the Cinematic flashback podcast. Hey man,

398
00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:08.599
let's talk about Mike real quick.

399
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:10.480
Yeah.

400
00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:12.279
I used to think I was a really great quarterback

401
00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:17.440
in high school. Still think so too. I can't even

402
00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:19.559
bring myself like a cigarette because I keep thinking I

403
00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:25.680
gotta stay in shape. You know what really gets me though,

404
00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:28.720
I mean, here I am. I gotta live in this

405
00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:31.440
thinking town, and I gotta read the newspapers about some

406
00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:37.559
hot shot kid, new star of the college team.

407
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.359
Every year is gonna be a new one every year.

408
00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:46.759
Is never gonna be me. I'm just gonna be Mike.

409
00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:56.240
Twenty year old Mike, thirty year old Mike, oh me,

410
00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:57.279
and old man Mike.

411
00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:03.359
These college kids are there.

412
00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.559
They're never going to get old, are out of shape

413
00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:13.440
because new ones come along every year. They're gonna keep

414
00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:14.799
calling his cutters.

415
00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:22.039
Them is just a dirty word, and.

416
00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:23.720
He is just something else I never got a.

417
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:29.279
Chance to be. It was a beautiful piece of writing

418
00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:33.279
because it really captures that if anybody's lived in the

419
00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:37.599
college town, that's absolutely true. There's always gonna be new

420
00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:41.759
kids coming in who are thin, and you're just getting older.

421
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:43.480
It's a great scene.

422
00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:49.599
Mike's character reminds me of a person who maybe twenty

423
00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:55.240
years down the Road basically be the main character from

424
00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:58.559
the song by Bruce Springsteen called Glory Yea where he

425
00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:01.599
always he's always living those in his mind.

426
00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.759
I have something to say about that. I think, sure,

427
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.759
and I don't disagree with you, But here's what I

428
00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:12.119
come away from when I come away from that. I

429
00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:15.960
think he could easily fall into that trap. But I

430
00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.799
think based on what was just said, just our clip

431
00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:25.559
we just heard, he has enough insight and sort of

432
00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:32.480
ability to kind of realize where he's at and that

433
00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:38.559
he can go forward and make a lifeerself. My desire

434
00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:42.880
is that he doesn't come become that he's not. I mean,

435
00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.240
and here's one of the important things in this movie.

436
00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:49.079
He's really coming to terms with he's not the best

437
00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:52.400
of the best. He's not the best. He's not so

438
00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:55.920
he's not arrogant. And we find in scenes of the

439
00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:59.279
movie where he fails. Yeah, and he's shown that he's

440
00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:02.880
not the best, and that's it's important. But he's still,

441
00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:05.839
you know, and we see going forward in the movie

442
00:25:05.880 --> 00:25:11.640
he still fights with his his desire to say, well,

443
00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:14.160
I'm not even going to play I'm not gonna do that,

444
00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:17.279
and he gets you know, let's just say it. He

445
00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:18.920
gets on the bike and he does what he has

446
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.240
to do to help the team and help his friends,

447
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.799
and I just my personal opinion is he is that

448
00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:26.920
he is not the guy who ends up doing that

449
00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:30.480
He could easily have, but I think he doesn't. That's

450
00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:31.839
my it's my dream.

451
00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:35.279
I love that you have the positive outlook for me.

452
00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:39.480
I was thinking he might be Uncle Rico. Hears down

453
00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:42.160
the road, He's gonna throw at football over the mountain.

454
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:44.960
See that's it. And I get why you might think that,

455
00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:47.440
And that's kind of the thing. It's easy to write off.

456
00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:51.400
But the way, you know, he was written with this

457
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:56.119
introspective in which these failures and with the idea the

458
00:25:56.160 --> 00:26:00.559
final realization that even though what he has isn't the best,

459
00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:03.200
it's still worthy. I think that's going to lead him

460
00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:07.640
down into meeting the right person, settling down, having some kids,

461
00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:11.160
and being a goofy dad. At least that's my hope.

462
00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:13.480
To kind of know where Dave will end up. We

463
00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:18.319
sort of assume where Moocher and Zero will end up

464
00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:21.880
to some extent pretty much working dudes, that's what's kind

465
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.559
But the interesting one or the Dave and the Mic

466
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:27.480
and I really think Mike would have surprised us. That's

467
00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:29.720
my dream. He certainly could have fallen short, but I

468
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:31.319
don't think so, not after this movie.

469
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:34.079
I'm kind of jealous about you a little bit, Matt,

470
00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:37.839
because you got to see this film from both sides

471
00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.319
of the story. You saw this as a young man,

472
00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:43.799
and now you've seen this as a father of your

473
00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:45.680
kids have run out of the house. We're seeing this

474
00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:50.079
film from a different age perspective. How did that influence

475
00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:52.960
how you saw Paul Dewley's character.

476
00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:55.880
I am very lucky to have seen this sort of

477
00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:58.240
at that time. I mean, I was very close to

478
00:26:58.279 --> 00:27:01.200
the age of these characters. They're keen. I was about

479
00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:04.400
to turn eighteen. It was my senior year in high school.

480
00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:08.759
I was getting ready to make those decisions about going

481
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:13.319
off to college. I had a girlfriend at the time.

482
00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.359
You know, there was just a lot of stuff going on.

483
00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:19.960
And also I had a dad who was you know,

484
00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:22.359
it was a tough character to some extent. My dad

485
00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:27.480
was no nonsense dude. It's a rocket scientist, very very intelligent.

486
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:30.599
And he was also I mean, I was a wrestler

487
00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:33.720
and I played football, and he was interested in all that,

488
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:36.599
and I was less interested in it possibly, so it

489
00:27:36.680 --> 00:27:39.559
was always a sort of sorts of conflict. So I

490
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:45.680
really in watching the movie. I remember watching the movie going, yeah,

491
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:50.599
that dad doesn't understand, you know, And now when I

492
00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:53.359
watched it again just recently, I look back and I'm like,

493
00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:57.359
that's so funny. Yeah, I can see myself and that dad.

494
00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:02.920
Your observation about Dave's speaking Italian, yeah, being kind of

495
00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:09.000
an analogy for how parents and kids sometimes just can't communicate. No,

496
00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:12.400
they don't. And that's true. I think every parent at

497
00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.640
some point, especially as your children get older, you begin

498
00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:18.880
to realize that, wow, I don't know you. But that's

499
00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:22.279
part of the process for children eventually, And Dave definitely

500
00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:24.559
is doing this in the movie. He's growing into his

501
00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:27.839
own character. They've taken that gap year. He's exploring who

502
00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:30.359
he is and does he want to go to college?

503
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:34.400
Does he want to continue to work in the limestone business?

504
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:38.359
Is that option what they used car? Yeah, he speaks

505
00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:42.200
a different language, and it seems to be this source

506
00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:46.880
of frustration for the dad. But like all dads, there's

507
00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:50.599
a level of Okay, I don't understand it. I'm trying

508
00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:53.839
to get my arms around who this kid is who's

509
00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:58.000
lived in my house. Maybe I don't really understand everything

510
00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:02.400
they are into. And one of the scenes in the movie,

511
00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:08.039
you know, something happens and it really there's a disappointment.

512
00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:10.920
Was a disappointment?

513
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:14.279
This is that that they're they're let me go ahead, Yeah,

514
00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:21.400
let me say it this way. Paul's innocence, his his

515
00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:26.160
imaginary Italian character does come to an end, yes, in

516
00:29:26.200 --> 00:29:27.680
a very disappointing way for him.

517
00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:31.000
It just breaks him. One of the most important scenes

518
00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:35.000
in the movie is when this happens. Everything the father

519
00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:38.440
has been complaining about the Italian and the singing and

520
00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:41.400
the loud opera music, all of that comes to an end.

521
00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:44.839
The son is distraught, and you can see in the

522
00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:49.440
dad clayed wonderfully his consternation over. Okay, I said, I

523
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:52.039
wanted this to end, but I didn't want to end

524
00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:54.480
like this. I didn't want my kid to get out out.

525
00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:55.480
It's very touching.

526
00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:58.240
You want your children to be successful and at some

527
00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:01.440
point you want them, I mean today kids saying that

528
00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:03.680
the young groups say it's adulting. At some point you

529
00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:07.119
want them to begin to not only leave the nest,

530
00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:09.119
but to have their own life, to be able to

531
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:13.480
be successful. Sometimes that also comes with a bit of

532
00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:18.680
bittersweetness because it doesn't always happen as directly as you

533
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.319
would want it to. And I think Paul the dad

534
00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.039
realizes that, you know, I didn't want you to get

535
00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:26.440
to it.

536
00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:30.119
In this direction. Yeah, So it's it just sort of

537
00:30:30.440 --> 00:30:33.480
you keep going over these scenes and realizing that that's

538
00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.440
why he got the Academy Award. I think over and

539
00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:40.240
over again of these scenes. Scenes that's just such great. Yeah,

540
00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:47.519
and this is a human interaction that are so accessible.

541
00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:50.039
I love that saying that was a great thing. The

542
00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:54.279
acting of Barbara Barry in that scene is absolutely, in

543
00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:58.920
my opinion, perfect, because she's looking on her son and

544
00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:03.160
her husband with such affection and love. It comes through

545
00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:06.599
in the acting and it's amazing acting. Yeah, so we

546
00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:08.720
can all say, you know, actors like, oh, they're just

547
00:31:08.759 --> 00:31:11.240
pretending it was like, this is tough. She doesn't have

548
00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:14.680
a word, no lines at all. She's just in her face,

549
00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:18.200
her look, in her eyes. It's amazing when you see the.

550
00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:20.400
Scene, you know what I'm talking about, The scene with

551
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:24.960
the passport, yes, hers, and that she completely improvised.

552
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:25.279
Did she?

553
00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:28.799
In an interview with four of the characters from the

554
00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:32.400
film they talk about. I think it's Paul Dooley actually

555
00:31:32.759 --> 00:31:36.680
talked about how Barbara had improvised that scene with the

556
00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:40.680
with the passport on that and I think because of

557
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:46.759
that and because of her role overall that she did

558
00:31:46.759 --> 00:31:49.480
to the film, that's why she was recognized with an

559
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:52.079
Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

560
00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:52.559
For sure.

561
00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:56.640
Definitely, Matt. Let's talk about the tension between the college

562
00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:00.279
students and our four friends at the quarry.

563
00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:02.440
For a variety reason. We talked about the general conflict

564
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:04.880
between people that live in the town versus the kids

565
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:06.720
that are in school. But you know, the kids are

566
00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:11.119
at there, you know, are are for kids. The cutter

567
00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:13.920
group are at their quarry, which they really consider to

568
00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:18.680
be theirs. Obviously, there's a lot of stress because you know,

569
00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:21.119
in any college town, college kids come, they take over

570
00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:23.799
the bars, they take over the restaurants. You know, they're everywhere.

571
00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:27.200
So these guys really feel like this quarry is theirs.

572
00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:30.359
And the college kids show up and hello and behold.

573
00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:30.759
They're fortress.

574
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:36.079
It's their place. But who shows up obviously Rod and Kathy.

575
00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:40.759
Who ends up being you know, is the girl that

576
00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:43.119
is the love interest with Dave, and in a variety

577
00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:46.160
of other kids from the university who I will point

578
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:49.519
out as we go forward in the story, the college

579
00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:52.079
kids are painted in a pretty good light. I mean,

580
00:32:52.119 --> 00:32:56.119
because generally Rod's friends are like, hey, calm down, you know, Hey,

581
00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:58.039
this is not worth it. Hey, what are you doing?

582
00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:02.400
And it's Rod that's kind of being the jerk largely now,

583
00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:05.000
And I think it was good of the writer to

584
00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:06.759
kind of make sure that you realize, you know, all

585
00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:09.559
these kids in this college are not horrible people, right,

586
00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:11.279
it's they're just no college.

587
00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:16.079
I think that I like that that Mike has something

588
00:33:16.119 --> 00:33:20.319
to prove to Rod. And there's a there's a scene

589
00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:24.480
where they're they're swimming in the quarry and you just

590
00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:28.960
you see in that scene that although Mike is truly

591
00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:34.319
outclassed in terms of swimming abilities, he's not outclassed in heart. Yeah,

592
00:33:34.519 --> 00:33:37.480
and he will continue goes back to the character of Mike,

593
00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:39.160
who I think is just amazing.

594
00:33:39.319 --> 00:33:41.680
Yeah, And that's a great So that's the that's one

595
00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:45.400
of their conflicts is just the location. And and like

596
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:48.920
you had described before, or like we're talking about before,

597
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:51.599
there's a period of time when the when the Cutter

598
00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:55.279
kids sort of go into the university. So they're at

599
00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:57.000
the what we would call in the old days of

600
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.519
student union. You know, it's a bowling alley there, there's

601
00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:02.480
a straw, you know, there's all the kids are gathered

602
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:06.000
there and that's where the hilarious scene with Daniel Stern

603
00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:09.000
gets his fingers caught in a bowl and then there's

604
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:11.239
a fight and it breaks out. He's just swinging it

605
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:12.159
around and around.

606
00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:16.800
I'm starting to get visions of his character from Home Alone,

607
00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:17.920
like he's starting.

608
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:22.760
Very funny physical comedium. His voice in this movie is hilarious.

609
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.800
It's the way he talks and what he says to

610
00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:28.960
resolve the conflict. We have them Little five hundred, which

611
00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:31.559
is a cool bike race. I'd never seen anything like it.

612
00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:35.079
Everybody gets the same bike and it's up to you

613
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:37.840
to get the bike in shape. Dave tunes their bike

614
00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.280
to the nines to make it absolutely perfect, but it's

615
00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:42.719
still pieces of junk because they all get the same

616
00:34:42.760 --> 00:34:44.280
It's like a I think it's sort of like a

617
00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:45.159
NASCAR race.

618
00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:47.599
It was my wife and I were watching this film

619
00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:50.639
and she had a ten speed. Unfortunately she had a

620
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:53.360
ten speed stolen, but she had a ten speed and

621
00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:56.719
the first thing she notices. There's no breaks yet on

622
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:00.840
this no gears bike gear. There's no gears. It's one gear,

623
00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:04.000
but they have breaks. It's you pedal backwards. They were coaster.

624
00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:07.679
The Little five hundred still goes on today's It is

625
00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:12.960
billed as the greatest weekend of college at Indiana University.

626
00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:19.360
This is a iconic event at Indiana. The whole town

627
00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:23.199
is in on it. The faculty is in, they're excited

628
00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:27.079
about it, alumni are coming in. It's it's big, it's

629
00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:27.639
very big.

630
00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:32.000
So the judge instructs that the cutters quote unquote cutters,

631
00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:34.159
in other words, the town team needs to have a

632
00:35:34.199 --> 00:35:37.719
team that and that's where this conflict is going to

633
00:35:37.719 --> 00:35:43.679
be decided. In a healthy athletic competition in the Little

634
00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:46.280
five hundred, which is as we spoke before, two hundred

635
00:35:46.360 --> 00:35:51.679
laps and basically a team of four and they're supposed

636
00:35:51.719 --> 00:35:54.559
to switch off, so one person could ride the entire thing,

637
00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:59.320
but typically they switch off like in heats and things

638
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:01.440
like that, and give a person to break. They enter

639
00:36:01.480 --> 00:36:03.480
into the Little five hundred. As I said, they all

640
00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:06.800
have the same bicycle, so there's no advantage there. The

641
00:36:06.840 --> 00:36:10.559
bike is one size, it's not really adjustable, so you

642
00:36:10.599 --> 00:36:13.320
pretty much usually pick your team for all the people

643
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:17.400
that can fit correctly on that bike, and the cutter

644
00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:20.079
team definitely doesn't have that. We have Mucher, who is

645
00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:23.000
very small a stature, and at one point, you know,

646
00:36:23.079 --> 00:36:26.280
gets on the bike because he has to, and it's

647
00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:29.239
hilarious because he can barely reach the pedals.

648
00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:33.760
But even in the midst of the competition, there is humor.

649
00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:35.760
It's everything we want to want to give it away,

650
00:36:35.800 --> 00:36:38.800
but obviously it's an uplifting movie, so we're I'm pretty

651
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:41.119
sure things are going to work out well for our heroes.

652
00:36:41.719 --> 00:36:45.840
But it's very there's a good amount of drava and

653
00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:49.239
it's done well. And I can't recommend this film enough.

654
00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:52.440
I think people really really would enjoy it if they

655
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.360
go and see it, or not go and see it,

656
00:36:55.400 --> 00:36:56.800
but rent it and see it.

657
00:36:56.960 --> 00:36:59.840
So Matt did Breaking Away Group through the decades or

658
00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:01.480
it lost its beat.

659
00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:04.079
I think it grew through the decades. I think it's

660
00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:11.760
a movie that is as can speak to relationships and

661
00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:14.039
issues of today just as well as it did when

662
00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:16.400
it came out in nineteen seventy nine. And it is

663
00:37:16.519 --> 00:37:18.760
kind of fun for me to see it from both sides,

664
00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:21.039
like you said, as a young person and now as

665
00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:25.559
a dad looking back on it, it is truly a

666
00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:27.800
one that has really held in it. I think, you know,

667
00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:31.480
sometimes we think the Academy Awards maybe don't get it right.

668
00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:34.400
They got it right on this one. It's a great story.

669
00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:37.800
The film does look a little bit dated today, but

670
00:37:38.920 --> 00:37:42.760
the story is strong. I would put this right there

671
00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:47.639
with movies such as Rocky or The Karate Kid. It's

672
00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:52.519
a great introduction to actors that you're going to see.

673
00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:54.039
Throughout the years or have seen.

674
00:37:54.280 --> 00:37:59.280
I definitely appreciate you recommending this one. It was, like

675
00:37:59.320 --> 00:38:01.239
I said, it was one that I hadn't seen before,

676
00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:03.320
and really glad I got to see it.

677
00:38:03.719 --> 00:38:06.679
I honestly do not know why it flashed into my

678
00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:12.880
head except for we are coming up to Thanksgiving time, right,

679
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.360
and that is when I went. As I described is,

680
00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:18.719
we went during that time and it just struck me

681
00:38:18.760 --> 00:38:21.079
as like we had talked about doing another film and

682
00:38:21.519 --> 00:38:23.679
I had even started some preparation for that. And then

683
00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:25.079
I was like, you know what, this would be a

684
00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:26.880
great film. And then when you said you hadn't seen it,

685
00:38:26.920 --> 00:38:28.920
I was like, this is perfect. You're going to see

686
00:38:28.920 --> 00:38:30.599
it perfect, and we're going to do it. I had

687
00:38:30.639 --> 00:38:32.840
no doubt. Once I said it and you said you

688
00:38:32.880 --> 00:38:34.960
hadn't seen it, I was like, Okay, we're doing that.

689
00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:37.840
We're doing breaking anyway because you're going to watch it

690
00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:39.440
and you're going to love it. And I was right.

691
00:38:39.559 --> 00:38:42.159
I don't think sixth grade me would have appreciated as

692
00:38:42.239 --> 00:38:45.599
much as eighteen year old Matt. What if appreciate it?

693
00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:48.239
I just I can't. But it's just it's so funny

694
00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:51.800
to me that my girlfriend's mom recommended it to me

695
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:58.119
and I was like, it's definitely not you know, and

696
00:38:58.519 --> 00:39:01.840
she was spot on, you know, kind of she understood.

697
00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:05.199
She was a very perceptive lady. I loved to do death.

698
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.199
He's passed away now, but we kept in touch, you know.

699
00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:10.840
I always thanked her for recommending that film.

700
00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:13.639
Matt, just thank you so much for recommending that we

701
00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:16.480
watch Breaking Away. And I also want to thank our

702
00:39:16.519 --> 00:39:19.000
listeners for joining us. If you want to contact us,

703
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you can email us at podcasts at Cinematic Flashback dot

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com or leave a comment on our Facebook page The

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Cinematic Flashback Podcast. Also, we are trying to build this

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show and we would deeply appreciate a review on the

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platform you were listening to. If you've enjoyed the show,

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please give us five star reviews so we can reach

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more listeners. So join us next time as we take

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the wayback machine to the seventies to explore another film

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from that decade. All I want is a refund.

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Refun re fun.

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Are you crazy?