GOLDEN OLDIE 47: Breaking away

 

Well, last night turned out to be a deep dip into personal nostalgia.  The film I watched was Breaking Away, released in 1979 to considerable critical acclaim.  As it happens, Breaking Away could be considered the theme song of a brief but intense relationship I enjoyed with a woman who happened to be Linda’s best friend.  It was through that fascinating, complicated woman that I met Linda Joyce, who – after a brief hiatus - turned out to be the absolute and complete joy of my life for the next three decades. Thanks, Parkfriend.  You played a very important role in my life.

But enough maudlin personal history; this is supposed to be a movie review!  In a nutshell, Breaking Away is a damned good movie, not chock full of meaning and all that, just plain good fun.  It revolves around bicycles, bicycle racing, town-gown rivalry, and – of course – young love. It introduces two guys who went on to important movie careers – Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern.  The others in the cast also are excellent.  I was particularly taken by Barbara Barrie, as the hero’s mother.  She has had a long and, one hopes, highly remunerative career in film and television.  For instance, she was Barney Miller’s wife in the highly popular TV series of the same name.  She is 90 now and, for all I know, still working.  Thanks, Barbara.

So, to summarize:  good movie, verging on great.  A-