Breaking Away

Movie: Breaking Away (1979), Rated PG

Date Watched: April 11, 2009

Stars Your Parents May Know: Dennis Quaid and Jackie Earle Haley (bad boy in Bad News Bears and Little Children)

Recommendation: ★★★★★

Treats Served: Swedish Fish
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Summary: Breaking Away is about Dave Stohler, a local teenager, who wants to be a champion bicyclist. He pretends to be an Italian college student, but he's really a local boy who just graduated from high school. It's Dave and his lazy friends versus the rich college kids.

Review: Breaking Away is one of the best movies I've seen so far. It was inspiring, interesting and even funny. The lesson I learned was "don't give up." Dave was an amazing bicyclist and very determined. During one race, his favorite Italian team cheats and makes him lose. He goes home, rips down all his bike posters, and temporarily gives up. With the help of his friends and family, Dave decides to compete in a college race. But it's really his confidence that makes good things happen for him.

The movie made me want to compete in a bike race and try to do my best.
However, the movie wasn't all that serious. Dave's relationship with his father, Raymond, wasn't very good, but it was funny. Dave spoke Italian all the time -- even when he spoke English, he spoke in an Italian accent. This drove his father bonkers. His dad thought Dave was always happy and said things like, "When I was his age, I was tired and miserable." Then when Dave becomes tired and miserable, his dad says, "I didn't want him to be this miserable. A little is all I asked for."

There was great Italian opera too!

Watch the trailer and you decide.

Patchy's Memorable Quote: Referring to Dennis Quaid, "Does he have a hair do?" Here's a picture. What do you think?

Parent Advisory: One or two inappropriate words and high romance advisory.

Tom Sawyer

Movie: Tom Sawyer (1973), Rated G

Date Watched: April 2, 2009

Stars Your Parents May Know: Jodie Foster, Johnny Whitaker (Family Affair)

Recommendation: ★★☆☆☆

Treats Served: MoonPies from Jake. (Every month, Jake's grandfather sends him a box full of goodies. This month he got Moon Pies and Cheetos. Jake's mom snuck some MoonPies out for us so she doesn't eat them.) Read about the birth of MoonPies and how they were named.

Summary: Based on the book by Mark Twain, this musical adaptation is about an adventurous Tom Sawyer who gets in trouble almost every time he leaves his house. Tom Sawyer witnesses a murder and it puts him in danger.

Review: About five minutes into the movie they started singing. This is when I figured out it was a musical. I thought it was going to be one of those other boring musicals and it kind of was. It wasn't filled with singing and there was no dancing, but when I read the book I didn't think there would be singing.

The movie used most of the adventures that the book had, but not all. I didn't expect Tom Sawyer to have red hair.

My mom and dad are sort of teaching me what some words in the movie mean. These are the ones I am learning:

Philanderer: someone who flirts with women who are not their wives.
Tom's "fiance" Becky calls Tom a philanderer when she finds out he was ''engaged'' to someone before her. This is funny because they are 11 years old!

Uncouth: rude and uncivilized.
Tom's Aunt Polly called his friend, Huckleberry Finn, uncouth because he never wore shoes, smoked a pipe and never washed.

Cavort: to hang around and have fun with.
Aunt Polly doesn't like Tom Sawyer cavorting with Huckleberry Finn because she thought he was a bad influence. I would like a friend like Huckleberry Finn because he's adventurous.

If anyone wants to borrow my kid's version of Tom Sawyer, I recommend reading that, but not watching the movie. Watch the trailer and you decide.

Patchy's Favorite Part: "When the girl be friends with the boy and when the boy and the other boy be friends again." (Patchy is talking about when Tom Sawyer becomes friends again with both Becky and Huckleberry Finn.)