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Critics Consensus: At once a touching, funny coming-of-age story and a compelling sports film, Breaking Away is a delightful treat.
Critic Consensus: At once a touching, funny coming-of-age story and a compelling sports film, Breaking Away is a delightful treat.
All Critics (36) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (2) | DVD (5)
There are a few moments when the picture's easygoing pace turns into wobbliness, but these are insignificant compared with its many moments of shrewd insight into the lives of amusingly shaded but very recognizable human beings.
Though its plot wins no points for originality, Breaking Away is a thoroughly delightful light comedy.
Peter Yates, previously typed as an action director, lends the film a fine, unexpected limpidity, and the principals are mostly excellent.
Displays the kind of unsentimental optimism that went out of fashion with Hawks.
Breaking Away is 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.
Here is a movie so fresh and funny it didn't even need a big budget or a pedigree.
A textbook definition of a sleeper hit.
Rousing bicycle race story is a family favorite.
Breaking Away embraces the good old fashioned small town family values that would catapult Ronald Reagan to an enormously popular two term presidency. And still, I like it.
The triumphant ending teeters on twee, but feels warranted enough to give it a pass and enjoy the moment right along with him.
Christopher is so good in this quietly charming, Yates-drected tale of four high school graduates trying to decide what to do with their lives that it's a wonder he didn't achieve the heights of co-star Quaid.
A delightful sleeper.
A feel-good, inspirational story concerning an offbeat teenager who discovers his love for biking, despite his non-supportive father (Paul Dooley) wanting him to grow up and accept adulthood as a member of the "cutter" class. While it suffers from a couple scenes that come across as over dramatic and one of the plot points is just downright awful, this movie is still hard not to love given the energetic lead performance by Dennis Christopher, as well as the fact that this is a great coming of age story. Sure, it's absolutely corny at times, but if you really don't fall in love with this movie, especially the last big race scene - something is wrong with you.
Super Reviewer
The essential biking film! If you're into sports movies, love riding bikes, or compete in bike racing yourself, you will love this movie. It's a great sports drama about both bikes and growing up.
This film really impressed me the first time around. But since I haven't seen it since then (about 1984 or so), my rating is based on fond memories. If I see it again and it doesn't hold up, I'll re-evaluate.
This is my friend Gwen's all-time favorite movie. It turned her into a bike fanatic. Great early work from a young Dennis Quaid. My how time flies.
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