What I Watched -- Breaking Away

T and I both independently signed up for Bicycling magazine recently.  (That is something we probably should have coordinated a little bit better.)  In any case, the first issue I got had a list of reader-voted best cycling movies.  The first one I got around to seeing was Breaking Away.

Released in 1979, Breaking Away tells the story of an Indiana kid obsessed with an Italian cycling team.  He and his three high school friends are trying to find their place in a go-nowhere town when Dave discovers that his Italian idols will be nearby for a race.  When he meets them, everything does not go as Dave hoped.

I have a hard time believing this movie won the Oscar for best screenplay (1979).  It's not bad, it's just not remarkable.  Today it might be produced as an after-school special.

I did very much enjoy the biking though.  There's a good race at the end, the famous Little 500, and I'm reminded how awesome it would be to be able to ride a bike everywhere in town.  And it does feel oddly . . . "classic" is overstating it, but maybe important?  I think that's because of the young Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern who play two of Dave's friends.

Bottom line: I learned some stuff about the "Little Five," but I'm not likely to watch it again.