Why It Ranks
Breaking Away is a nearly perfect sports film — intimate, funny, and genuinely moving. It won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. The class dynamics between townies and college students give the cycling real stakes. Christopher's performance is a revelation.
The Film
Breaking Away is the greatest cycling film ever made — a small, perfect movie about a working-class Indiana teenager obsessed with Italian cycling who races against the college kids who look down on his townie friends. Dennis Christopher is luminous in the lead. The Little 500 race at Indiana University provides a thrilling climax. It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Fun Facts
The film is based on the real Little 500 bicycle race at Indiana University.
Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley all became major stars after this film.
The screenplay by Steve Tesich won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
A short-lived TV series based on the film aired in 1980.
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