Breaking away is the coming-of-age story of four friends trying to figure out what to do with their lives after graduating from high school. Raised together in the working class quarry town of Bloomington, Indiana, the four boys consider themselves to be "Cutters", proud of their father’s heritage as limestone workers in the once prosperous factory town. Unfortunately, there seems to be no future for the boys as Cutters, and not one of them has plans for college. Mike (Dennis Quaid) is no longer the star quarterback, Moocher (Jackie Earl Haley) cant decide to marry or break up with this girlfriend, and quick-witted Cyril (Daniel Stern) can no longer play the class clown, they have no idea what to do with themselves. Luckily, avid cyclist Dave (Dennis Christopher) knows exactly what he wants. He aspires to be one of the wor

The dramatic need of the character is another element that I believe plays a vital role in developing the narrative. Dramatic need is related to conflict, but is not exactly the same. Each of the characters has a dramatic need: Dave wants to win the race, Mike and Moocher want to get their own back on the college students etc. Without this dramatic need the narrative would not have developed. An example of this is when Mike has second thoughts about the bike race. Mike’s dramatic need throughout the film had been to better the college students, but as soon as he loses this dramatic need, he sees no reason to take on the fraternities in the yearly bike race. If this has been Mike’s mentality throughout the film, then the narrative would have gone nowhere and never resulted in the Cutters winning the race. Dramatic need is related to conflict by the fact that it is the character’s fuel, it drives them on, and when they do not achieve their goals, that is when there is conflict.

Change - does the character change throughout the screenplay?

Lastly, successful stories require actions, which change the lives of the characters in the story. They also contain some sort of resolution, where that change is registered, and which creates a new equilibrium for the characters involved. This is very true for Breaking Away, each of the characters go through some sort of change. Dave can be distinguished as the main character by the fact that he goes through the most changes through the movie. If the characters didn’t change, and swam in the quarry for the whole movie, it wouldn’t make for very good entertainment. That is why it is essential that all the characters complete the ‘arc of change’.

Point of view - the way the character views the world. (Different points of view create conflict).

Mom: He was very sickly until he started riding around on that bicycle.

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