October, 1979

Harrisburg Area Women's News

Movie Review

Breaking Away

And More

Page 20

by Terry Roth

I thought for awhile I couldn't write a feminist movie review of a movie about male adolescence. That only goes to show you how limited a feminist perspective can be. How could I understand anything about teenage girls without also trying to understand teenage boys?

All of this occurred to me when I considered going to see Breaking Away which was billed as a realistic portrayal of adolescence. As it turned out I didn't have to worry, because Breaking Away is not about adolescence, but about the fantasies of adolescence. How anyone could bill a movie which portrays teenage boys sharing dreams and disappointments and crying openly, as realistic is a mystery to me.. While it's no expose on adolescence it's nice movie and worth seeing.

Breaking Away is about four 19year-old "cutters" in Bloomington, Indiana. Cutters is the Indiana University vernacular for townies. Just out of high school, they are caught in the twilight region between school and life. They are the four musketeers--when one gets fired by the local A & P, the other three quit their jobs as well. Drifting aimlessly, they swim at the quarry and cruise in a beat up old car. The University students' disdain for them provides a focus for their lives. They finally find a chance to prove their worth when they are invited to participate in the annual I.U. bicycle relay race.

The biking also provides a focus for the movie and some of its best scenes. A friend of mine said her legs hurt from just watching and I was inspired to dust off my ten-speed. The races are thrilling, and it's a treat to see a "non-traditional" sport glorified in film. For Dave, the intensely romantic main character, biking is a chance to break away from an otherwise mundane existence and to gain confidence in himself. dawning of the age of women's sports will hopefully enable women to share in this kind of self actualizing transcendence.

The

Comic relief is provided by Dave's Italian fixations. He hangs posters of Italy in his room, listens to Italian music, and freaks out friends and family by talking Italian. (At one point his mother

pleads, "Oh Dave, try not to become Catholic on us.") He even manages to convince his love interest, an I.U. student, that he is an Italian exchange student. While she might well have hated him when she learned of this deception, it's hard to hate someone who serenades you at your sorority house window with Italian love songs.

Dave's parents are the only grown-ups in the movie. His father is a caricature with his antiItalian rantings, his never ending battle with his wife over his desire for junk foods, and his shysterish used car salesmanship. He is embarassed by his son's emotionalism and almost seems to take pleasure in his failures. But in the end he turns out to be supportive and to clumsily urge his son on to achieve the things that he himself never achieved. Dave's mother is of the TV sitcom variety always available with a supportive word and nourishing food. Her character is saved by a sense of humor and by a delightful scene in which she seduces her husband.

Dave and his bicycle are heads and tail-lights above all the other characters. His three buddies look believable and act well enough but their characters are shallow and hard to empathize with. Moocher woos and eventually weds a young woman while doing a macho number with his barbells. Mike is the perpetually bitter former high school quarterback who never lights the cigarette dangling from his lips just in case he every plays again. And Cyril is a dreamy, space cadet who would like to be a cartoon. Shorts: A far funnier view of adolescence is provided by Meatballs, Bill Murray's mind works in strange and perverse ways, but he really hits the right chords with me. you've ever been a camp counselor this one's a must. Warning: if you take it at all seriously it's a bit sexist and if you're turned off by slapstick comedy, you'll hate it. The Muppet Movie is a lot of fun, too, especially if you take along some kids or catch a weekend matinee. The effects are wonderful and I am seriously in love with Kermit the frog. Some people thought it was sexist, but in fact it's just the opposite. Miss Piggy (maybe it should

If

be Ms. Piggy) is a wolf in pig's clothing--she plays helpless female while saving the day with her karate. A businessman in Ohio is pushing Miss Piggy for the academy award and she may have my vote.

Rocky II and More American Graffiti prove the theory that sequels never work. They should have left well enough alone. Rocky II uses all the same elements but somehow loses the charm. And as for Graffiti II, what can you say about a film in which you spend most of your time waiting to see how the main characters will die?

Remember the contest for a new, permanent movie review page graphic for which the winner gets a night-out-at-the-movies with movie critic, Terry Roth? Well, we have good news, bad news, and good news. First, the good news:

We received two excellent entries, one by, a man, and one by a woman (yes, men are eligible to win!) Now, the bad news:

Terry Roth, the sole subjective judge in the contest, would like to see more entries before she makes a final decision (that's what a critic's eye does to you).

Finally, the good news:

The "Movie Review Page Graphic Contest" has been extended for one more month. So get your entries in today, and we promise to publish the winner's next month.