Breaking Away

It is a super-popular bike moving. It is loaded with bike racing scenes (including a cyclists drafting a truck at 60 mph.) It even won an academy award. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get in to it. The profanity got annoying. It seemed overly cliched. A guy that grew up in a college town hangs out with a bunch of losers. He is an avid cyclists, idolizing Italian champions. He falls for a sorority girl who thinks he is an Italian exchange student. His father hates his Italian and cycling obsession. One day, he races with the Italians who turn out to be real jerks (sabotaging him in a race.) He becomes disillusioned with all things Italy and comes closer to his father - just as his father is becoming more accepting of his love of cycling. He tells the girl that he is not really Italian - she gets mad, but later makes peace with him (she seems to ambiguously want to keep something going.) He takes a college entrance exam, nearly single-handedly wins the "little 500" bicycle race, and at the end starts trying out his French with a new French exchange student.

I liked the cycling parts. I didn't mind the romantic interests. The main character is intriguing and dedicated. His friends, however, distract from the movie. They become annoying and seem to be there just to cause some town-gown conflicts. His parents also seem overly cliched blue-collar people. (A used car salesman who specializes in selling lemons to college students. Uh yeah.) There is a lot of potential that is, alas, battered down with with trying to do too much.