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I love this film. I’ve seen this film nearly a dozen times and it still makes me laugh every time. The film is more than any category it may be labeled in. It’s a coming-of-age, sports film, but deals with the subject matter honestly with great insight.

Set in Bloomington, Indiana where the University of Indiana is located, the film deals with the divide between the wealthy college students and the locals who live in the town. Dave Stoller (David Christopher, CHARIOTS OF FIRE) is a townie, or as the film refers to them — cutters, which is a reference to the stone cutting factory where many of the townsfolk work. Stoller has just graduated from high school and dreams of becoming a professional cyclist. He is so into the Italian cycling team that he has learned Italian, speaks with an accent and drives his father, Raymond (Paul Dooley, POPEYE), nuts with opera music. He hangs around with a group of other cutters, including bitter, former high school quarterback Mike (Dennis Quaid, FAR FROM HEAVEN), sad jokester Cyril (Daniel Stern, CITY SLICKERS) and short, hothead Moocher (Jackie Earl Haley, THE BAD NEWS BEARS), who is secretly engaged to supermarket clerk Nancy (Amy Wright, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR).

Dave ends up falling for the beautiful sorority girl Katherine (Robyn Douglass, TV’s GALACTICA 1980), who believes that Dave is really an exchange student from Italy. This budding romance only aggravates the tensions between the cutters and snobby, college jock Rod (Hart Bochner, DIE HARD). Through all of Dave’s trials and tribulations, he is supported unconditionally by his mother Evelyn (Barbara Barrie, PRIVATE BENJAMIN).

The core theme is discovering the harsh realities of growing up. For the cutters, life isn’t fair, but they have to decide whether they’re going to stay in the race or just quit. Staying in the race is literal, for the university has decided to allow a team from the town to compete in the famed Little 500 bicycle race as a way to bridge the divide between the students and townspeople.

Christopher has the role of a lifetime and sells it perfectly. He could have been showy and over-the-top, but plays it with the right kind of innocence. Yes, he’s dramatic, but he’s young. Quaid gives the best performance of the early part of his career. Stern is subtle and funny. Dooley is an absolute marvel. The way he regards his son’s peculiar behavior is hilarious. He finds the right balance between funny and touching. Additionally, Barrie brings heart to the story, supporting Christopher and Dooley well. Surprisingly she was the only performer to receive an Oscar nomination.

Director Peter Yates, who received a nomination for Best Director and Best Picture, perfectly times the film. A master at action (check out his work in BULLITT), he knows how to pace action, tapping into the inherent drama of the situation. The tension he builds in the sequences where Dave rides behind the sixteen-wheeler and the final race displays his great skills the most. He’s helped by Steve Tesich’s Oscar winning screenplay, which knows how to subtly lead into sequences with scenes that give following moments added amounts of tension. The scene with the sixteen-wheeler is filled with additional tension, because of our knowledge that Dave’s tire has burst before and this time he’s racing down the highway.

Yates works with cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti to bring an uncommon visual poetry for a comedy with some scenes taking on a documentary feel. The Australian tagline is “Somewhere between growing up and settling down…” and that’s exactly what the film is about. It’s an underrated classic.