Breaking Away (1979)
Nominated producer(s): Peter Yates
Director: Peter Yates
Starring: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie, Paul Dooley, Robyn Douglass
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Other Oscar noms/wins:
director, supporting actress (Barbara Barrie), original screenplay (Steve Tesich, winner), original song score adaptation (Patrick Williams)
Peter Yates’ coming-of-age film about four teenagers from Indiana who use cycling to escape their mundane working class life is an ode to childhood and the dreams we give up on.
Utilizing one of the best ensembles of actors of the 1970s, the movie’s foursome evinces raw and fearless talent, all leading up to a final race that goes down as one of the most exciting in cinema history.
“Breaking Away” lost to Robert Benton’s well acted if utterly conventional family divorce melodrama Kramer vs. Kramer.
