10 Movies I've Enjoyed for Whatever Reason #05 "Breaking Away"

   These ten won't be the best movies ever But are films I'd watch over and over again. Describing a film as a "coming of age" story doesn't quite do it justice when it coincides with your own growing up and somehow speaks into that from a completely different context. Perhaps it nails  how it feels to have your self esteem stretched, crushed, pumped up and levelled again!!
   With (was it 5) Academy Award nominations (and the win for Screenplay) I just loved the set up of the young man who idolises the Italian Cycling Team, until they let him down in his dream moments and he crashes back to middle American 'earth' with a thud as his fellow 'Cutters' (short for Stone cutters) try to outgrow, avoid, ignore or hate their reputation as locals in a University town of try hards...  Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern do a great job as the young townies and the great dynamic between Dave (Christopher) and his Dad (Paul Dooley) makes the film a standout!!
The limestone quarry is now a waterhole and of course the 'cutters' object when the students tun up. The irony of 'cutters' is the stone was good enough to build the University, but now the working class folk of the town aren't seen as good enough to go there.
   It's also my chance to laud a film 101 mins long when 98 to 110 was the average length!! "If you can't tell a story in 98 minutes" was my most quoted comment in the 1980s and 90s...

"Refund! Refund!"

What is this?
It's sauteed zucchini.
It's I-ty food. I don't want no I-ty food.
It's not. I got it at the A&P. It's like... squash.
I know I-ty food when I hear it! It's all them "eenie" foods... zucchini... and linguine... and fettuccine. I want some American food, dammit! I want French Fries!
[to the cat] Oh, get off the table, Fellini!
Hey, that's *my* cat! His name's Jake, not Fellini! I won't have any "eenie" in this house!
[to the cat] Your name's Jake, you understand?