Breaking Away

'Nauts cut loose to defeat da Blitz 44-27

COLLEGE TOWN - Breaking Away is a classic American comedy-drama film released in 1979 and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich. The movie is about a group of four male teenagers living in Bloomington, Indiana, the home of the University of Indiana. Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) are working-class friends fresh out of high school, not sure what to do with their lives, and most consider attending the local university as being unrealistic. They spend much of their time together swimming in an abandoned limestone quarry and clashing with the more affluent IU (should be UI) students, who refer to them disparagingly as "Cutters", an insult to the local workers in the limestone industry. The term "Cutters" was invented for the film because the real-world derogatory "Stonies" was deemed unsuitable for the film. Not to give too much of the movie away, the plot centers on Dave’s obsession with competitive bicycle racing and the Italian racers in particular. His fomer stonecutter Dad (Paul Dooley) doesn't get the obession, but his Mom (Barbara Barrie) is more understanding. Dave is the only "Cutter" to enter IU and develops a crush on a co-ed named Katherine (Robyn Douglass), then masquerades as an Italian exchange student to romance her and "fit in" at the university. The Cutters clash with the frat boys over the romance, but the university President reprimands the frat boys for their arrogance towards the "Cutters" and invites the town to field a team for the school's annual Little 500 cycling race. Ironically, the bicycling team and race in the film is based on the 1962 Phi Kappa Psi Little 500 champions, which featured legendary rider and Italian enthusiast Dave Blase, who provided screenwriter and fellow frat brother Steve Tesich the inspiration for the main character in the movie. The film received positive reviews upon its release. Roger Ebert called it "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... Movies like this are hardly ever made at all and when they're made this well, they're precious cinematic miracles." Breaking Away won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and received nominations in four other categories, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Barbara Barrie. It was Stern's first film and the young Quaid turned in a memorable performance as Mike, the ex-high school quarterback/star. The film was ranked 8th on the List of America's 100 Most Inspiring Movies compiled by the American Film Institute (AFI) in 2006. In 2008, the AFI also ranked Breaking Away as the 8th best film in the sports genre. A nice success at the box office, the film grossed $20 million on a $2.3 million budget. The BDFL doesn’t rate movies, but if we did, this one would get five stars. If you've never seen it, you need to stream it soon during the upcoming holidays. In Week 12 of the BDFL's 31st season, it felt like 1979 again. The Juggernauts defeated da Blitz in front of family and friends at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The 'Nauts got testy with the Druid City fans during the game, but calmed down enough afterwards to celebrate on the bus ride back to Jugtown by eating some cold vict'ry chicken, singing those classic vict'ry songs (led by Alan Otis) and nobody got mooned in the parking lot on the way out.

1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins (1995)

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