Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 29

Chicago Tribune, Friday. July 27, 1979 Section 3 3 Movies People tJs 'A a a a ltS StM worked hard for Entertaining 'Breaking3 is full of r-wv lf5- j-rMcysj that ed racers if St i 7 i ii 'V fcihfrffiyaf i tA. A fv r-f 1 4 1 .2 i. Jack Earle Haley (from left), Daniel Stern, Dennis Quaid, and Dennis Christopher in a scene from "Breaking Away." TRIBUNE MINI-REVIEW: A gem "BREAKING AWAY" Produced and directed by Peter Yatea; screenplay by Steve TMlch; photographed by Matthaw F. Leonettl; edited by Cynthl Schelder; music by Patrick Wllllame; TwmtMh Cantwy-Fox ialaM it mtghborhood thHtara.

Rttad PQ. THE CAST: Chrlitoprwr Quiid n.ui stm ONE OF THE THINGS that makes "Breaking Away" so appealing is the fresh-faced charm and energy pumped into the film by Dennis Christopher, the young actor who plays the story's small-town hero. As Dave, the 19-year-old who rides to triumph over an emotionally bumpy road, Christopher, who will be 25 in December, has a breakthrough role that should Identify him strongly as the gifted actor be has trained to be for much of his life. Looking only slightly more mature than the idealistic youngster he portrays in "Breaking Away," Christopher, a slim blond in sport shirt, blue jeans, and loafers, talks about himself with the same kind of gentle openness and steely determination that Dave displays in the movie. "I find that I get such energy telling people about myself," he says.

"One of the reasons I went into acting was that I could speak someone else's lines, but now I love going over everything in my own words." Born Dennis Corelli in a large Italian family in Philadelphia, Christopher decided early in life that he wanted to be an actor. "I never was much of a sports person in school," he says. "It was pretty much Mask Mime and glee club for me." HE 'WORKED his way through one year at Temple University, but the acting itch was so strong that "I sold everything I had and went to Los Angeles," he explains. "I had no agent, no experience, no union card. But one of the things my family taught me was the pleasures and responsibilities of work.

I learned that you've got to make your own work. You've got to sell yourself; you've got to hustle; you've got to work at it." By such determination, he landed a role in a small horror movie, "Blood' and Lace," in which he played "the kid who always almost sees the bloody ax." But after running through a few low-budget movies and television roles was operated on by George he became discouraged by "the same old juvenile roles I was being offered in TV, and so I just took off for Europe." "It was total fantasy," he recalls. "It was the original magical mystery tour, starring me as the hippie kid with the long hair. One night I was eating spaghetti with my friend Jeannie in Rome and I saw this woman whom I later found out was Verushka, the model and actress. I started to follow her, and sure.

enough, I got lost. "I found myself in a square where I saw they were making a movie, and the man directing the movie was my idol, Federico Fellini. So I walked up to him ruined a whole scene in the process and told him that I idolized him and had had a dream about him. At first he was angry, but he was into dreams then, so he told me stick around, which I did, for about three weeks while he made 'Felini's WHEN CHRISTOPHER'S work permit in Italy ran out, he came back to New York and, between auditioning for off-off-Broadway roles, sustained himself by working as a boy and (eventually) personal assistant to the designer Halston. Still, the lure of acting wouldn't let him go.

He left the comfortable Halston job and moved back to Los EVERY SO OFTEN people ask what my star-ratings for movies stand for. The way I see it, a three-star rating is a recommendation that you see a picture. Anything below that is a "no" of increasing volume as the number of stars decreases. A 3Vf star rating is a very strong recommendation, and by giving a picture four stars I'm really saying, "If I knew you better, I'd buy you a ticket." "Breaking Away" is a four-star movie. It's not a landmark movie that will change the course of the American cinema; however, it is thoroughly entertaining and a guaranteed good time.

I seriously can't imagine anyone not liking it. The picture "Breaking Away" most resembles is "Rocky," in that on one level it's an underdog sports story. The movie, which was filmed in and around the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, follows the exploits of four working-class kids in a university town who are one year out of high school and that's about all. In other words, these kids are nowhere, and they can see other kids their own age the rich college kids headed for that American dream: the upwardly mobile life. OP THE FOUR boys, one Is self-conscious about his small size (Jackie Earle Haley, the motorcyle-riding tough in "The Bad News another is a former high school quarterback not good enough to get a scholarship, and another is a wise-cracking class clown lost without a quip.

The fourth member of the gang is the principal character in the movie. Dave (Dennis Christopher) is a bright fellow who is smart enough to to college, but who feels alienated from ie rich kids in school. He was brought up as the son of a stonecutter who helped build the university. The class distinction remains; otllege is for other kids. Dave is a "cutter" er "townie." Instead of thinking about school, Dave is living a different kind of fantasy: He imagines himself to be an Italian championship bicycle racer.

He rides around town on his lO-speed wearing one of those close-fitting racing caps. He opera records full-blast in bis bedroom. He convinces a pretty coed that he is an Italian exchange student and gives her a Neapolitan serenade under her dormitory window. He greets bis exasperated parents with "Ciao, Mamal" and "Ciao, Papal" He even insists on being served pasta, "which turns out to be where his father Jackla Earla Ha lay Barbara Barrta Paul Doolay NmRobyn Oouglaaa nwt Bochnar Kitharlna. Amy Wright Nancy Dennis Christopher: A breakthrough role that should identify him as the gifted actor he has trained to be.

Angeles, where "I felt I was a has-been starting all over again." Gradually, however, he started getting the jobs: a featured part with his friend Shelley Duvall in the public television film, "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," and two films by Robert Altman, "3 Women" and "A Wedding." His performance as the epileptic brother of the bride in "A Wedding" brought him to the attention of Peter Yates, "Breaking Away's" director. At first, Christopher was considered for a smaller role in the film, but one day Yates asked him to read the part of Dave, and after that, he had the role. "Steve Tesich's script is so beautiful," Christopher says. "It doesn't hit you over the head; it leaves so many things unsaid, and it's all the more powerful because of that. The first time we all gathered in a room to read the script through, I was out of breath I was so excited." SHOOTING TOOK about seven weeks last summer in Bloomington, Ind.

think it was 10 months ago, because that's how long I've been on unemployment," Christopher says.) One lovely scene, in which an Injured and humiliated Dave is very awkwardly, humorously, and most movingly comforted by his gruff father (Paul Dooley), remains "the only part of the movie I can still see objectively. It's like I'm not even in it at all; I just get so wrapped up in it. We shot it gradually, so that it built up and built up in intensity until we had it at just the right emotional peak. When Dave calls his father I get choked up all over again." For his performance, Christopher had to go through a crash course in championship bicycle racing; and, he is proud to say, he became so good in "simulating the form" that a professional double was used only in some of the long shots. "A couple of regular racing riders saw the movie," Christopher relates, "and they couldn't believe it was just me in most of the shots.

they told me, 'do you know how long it takes us to become good bike "And I felt like telling them, 'Man, do you know how long it takes me to become a good Richard Christiansen The film is a fine essay on class distinctions in America. Have you ever thought about the accidents of birth that separate us? "Breaking Away" is truly poignant when we see these working class kids drive through the I.U. campus, and we see the students and the buildings through the eyes of the four boys. It all looks so foreign, as foreign as Manhattan-across-the-bridge looked to Tony Manero in that disco-dancing movie. Although we like to think of America as the great melting pot, "Breaking Away" reminds us that "the great melting pot" is just a phrase from some out-of-date history book.

THIS SUBTEXT is not surprising considering that "Breaking Away" was filmed by an Englishman finely tuned to class distinctions. Peter Yates, best known as an action director for "Bullitt" and "The Deep," proves to have a fine eye for the contradictions of American life. Which is not to say that "Breaking Away" is an anti-American story. Rather, it's pro-life, very upbeat, but with a strong streak of realism. The performances are special throughout the picture, particularly those of Christopher and Dooley.

The movie has a dull title, no big name stars, and the unlikely appeal of a story about a bicycle race. Yet this assuredly is one of the year's best films. So, if you are planning on seeing a movie soon, make it "Breaking Away." Gene Siskel Gene Siskel regularly reviews the movie scene at 5 and 10 p.m. on Channel 2. (played memorably by veteran character actor Paul Dooley) draws the line.

"I don't want any zucchini, linguini, or fettucine," Dooley screams in one of the film's funniest moments. "I don't want any ini in this house!" THE RELATIONSHIP between Dave and his father is precious. They love each other, but Dave's father can't express it. So he yells louder and louder at his son. It's the "I Never Sang for My Father" story told humorously.

The "Rocky'Mike aspect of the film concerns a bicycle race that the four boys enter as a team. It's the real-life "Little 500," held every year by the university. The race gives the "cutters" a chance to prove their mettle, and the conclusion of the race will have audiences cheering as loudly for "the cutters" as they cheered for the Italian stallion, Rocky Balboa. But there's more to "Breaking Away." GET-AWAY-GUIDE GET-AWAY-GUIDI AMUSIMENTS AMUSEMENTS AMUSEMENTS AMUSEMENTS AMUSEMENTS AMUSEMENTS GET-AWAY-GUIDE Relax close to home. SAVEFUZL enjoy one of Chicago's MM II mosT LUXURIOUS RESORT FACILTES in pi rn in t.Sl II Thrilling rides and attractions, including the new Monster of the Midway ride, magic, eateries, discoing and live concerts One low park admission price and free parking.

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