I saw this film at the theater when it was first released. Coming from a blue collar town I don't believe there was a kid alive in our neighborhood who didn't want a 10 speed bicycle after seeing this one.
I also come from an Italian family so this film especially hit financial and nationality cords with us. Although the lead Wasn't Italian his desire to be was humorous and brought haunting familiarity to the film for us.
That however is not why I have been a HUGE fan of this movie for the last 26 years. The characters are... They are portrayed by the actors with such intense realism that to deny this films significance to every single person who comes from a blue collar background in a somewhat large city would be ludicrous.
I dare anyone from a working class family who was coming of age in the late 70s and early 80s to deny this films relevance. I knew every single one of these characters personally growing up from the used car salesman father to the Marlboro smoking muscle car abusing bad ass. From the quiet yet forceful mother to the tall skinny goofball "ceral"...Moocher to Dave I knew them all every single one of them residing in or near my neighborhood.
This film touched our hearts. It spoke of the emotional struggles we went through as children and adults being in a blue collar world. The fantastic part? It did this with humor, a sense of friendship(regardless of how dysfunctional) and an innocence on the brink of realization. Just the way it was. We cheered loudly at the end of this movie as we ate our goobers and popcorn then sighed silently as we left the theater squinting to take the city bus home...
I also come from an Italian family so this film especially hit financial and nationality cords with us. Although the lead Wasn't Italian his desire to be was humorous and brought haunting familiarity to the film for us.
That however is not why I have been a HUGE fan of this movie for the last 26 years. The characters are... They are portrayed by the actors with such intense realism that to deny this films significance to every single person who comes from a blue collar background in a somewhat large city would be ludicrous.
I dare anyone from a working class family who was coming of age in the late 70s and early 80s to deny this films relevance. I knew every single one of these characters personally growing up from the used car salesman father to the Marlboro smoking muscle car abusing bad ass. From the quiet yet forceful mother to the tall skinny goofball "ceral"...Moocher to Dave I knew them all every single one of them residing in or near my neighborhood.
This film touched our hearts. It spoke of the emotional struggles we went through as children and adults being in a blue collar world. The fantastic part? It did this with humor, a sense of friendship(regardless of how dysfunctional) and an innocence on the brink of realization. Just the way it was. We cheered loudly at the end of this movie as we ate our goobers and popcorn then sighed silently as we left the theater squinting to take the city bus home...