Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Breaking Away

Most teens proceed from high school to college or into the work force. Four young men from Bloomington, Indiana haven’t quite settled on where they’ll go or what they’ll do, but they insist that they’ll stay together.

Dennis Christopher takes the lead as Dave, a cycling fanatic whose infatuation with the Italian Cinzano bicycle racing team has led him to study Italian, adopt affections of what he thinks a typical Italian man would be and hopes to meet his idols while perpetually practicing for the great race. Dennis Quaid plays the part of his angry, free-wheeling friend Mike; Jackie Earle Haley appears as the love lorn Moocher; and in his film debut, Daniel Stern plays the part of the tall, lonely, dispassionate Cyril. While these four talented young men do much of the heavy lifting, able support comes in the form of Paul Dooley as Dave’s father and always affecting Barbara Barrie as Dave’s mother.

My familiarity with Peter Yates is limited, but after Bullitt and Breaking Away, I’m surprised he didn’t become a bigger, much more easily recognized name in Hollywood. This film was nominated for five Oscars, winning Steve Tesich a screenwriting Oscar. Yates and editor Cynthia Scheider don’t rest on their laurels even in the less dramatic moments, the film is tightly constructed, emotionally engaging and the bicycle race that concludes the film is as thrilling as any sporting event ever could be.