Editing Breaking Away (section)

==Reception==
The film received positive reviews upon its release. [[Roger Ebert]] called it "a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie that makes you feel about as good as any movie in a long time. It is, in fact, a treasure... Movies like this are hardly ever made at all; when they're made this well, they're precious cinematic miracles."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/breaking-away-1979 |title=Breaking Away |author=Roger Ebert |date=January 1, 1979}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]''{{'}}s [[Janet Maslin]] wrote that, even though "the cast is unknown, the director has a spotty history, and the basic premise falls into this year's most hackneyed category ... the finished product is wonderful. Here is a movie so fresh and funny it didn't even need a big budget or a pedigree."<ref name=NYT/> A ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine review concluded that "though its plot wins no points for originality, ''Breaking Away'' is a thoroughly delightful light comedy, lifted by fine performances from Dennis Christopher and Paul Dooley."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1978/film/reviews/breaking-away-1200424526/ |title=Review: 'Breaking Away' |publisher=Variety magazine |date=December 31, 1978}}</ref> Critic [[Dave Kehr]], however, gave a later, somewhat dissenting opinion: "Released at a time when any small-scale film earned critical favor simply by virtue of its unpretentiousness, Breaking Away probably looked better in context than it does now."<ref name=Kehr>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/breaking-away/Film?oid=3910131 |title=Breaking Away |author=Dave Kehr |newspaper=[[Chicago Reader]]}}</ref> However, he conceded that "Peter Yates lends the film a fine, unexpected limpidity, and the principals are mostly excellent."<ref name=Kehr/>

On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 42 reviews, with a rating average of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "At once a touching, funny coming-of-age story and a compelling sports film, ''Breaking Away'' is a delightful treat."<ref>[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/breaking_away/ "Breaking Away (1979)"]. [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. Retrieved September 2, 2019.</ref> On [[Metacritic]]—which assigns a weighted mean score—the film has a score of 91 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Breaking Away Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/breaking-away |access-date=December 1, 2022 |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[Fandom, Inc.]]}}</ref>

The film grossed approximately $20 million in North America.<ref name=TheNumbers/>

''The New York Times'' placed the film on its ''Best 1000 Movies Ever'' list.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080612032429/https://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.] ''[[The New York Times]]'' via [[Internet Archive]]. Published April 29, 2003. Retrieved June 12, 2008.</ref>

The February 2020 issue of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' lists ''Breaking Away'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>

[[NBC]] paid $5 million to screen the film on television on May 5, 1980, bypassing [[HBO]] and significantly shortening the normal window between theatrical release and screening on broadcast television, which was generally three years at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=April 16, 1980|title=NBC Pays $5 Mil For Fox' 'Breaking Away' In Hopes Of Bolstering Its Ratings|page=1|last=Fabrikant|first=Geri}}</ref>