OKC Film Society Screening “Cutters vs The World”

Before there were such things as sleeper hits that started their march at Sundance and went all the way to Oscar glory, there was Peter Yates’s out-of-nowhere hit that worked its magic in cinemas throughout the year of 1979 on nothing but excellent word-of-mouth and a wave of stellar reviews.

By the end of its run, it found itself vying for the Best Picture Oscar against titans such as KRAMER VS. KRAMER, ALL THAT JAZZ, and APOCALYPSE NOW, ending Oscar night with a statue for Steve Tesich’s original screenplay of working-class youths (“Cutters”) whose tensions with the affluent college kids boil over into a climactic ending set amidst the University of Indiana’s grueling Little 500 bicycle race.

Along the way, the film reveals itself not just as a heartwarming underdog story but also a story about the loosening of bonds after high school, strains between fathers and sons, and a subtle examination of class structures in Anywhere, America. With excellent turns by Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Jackie Earle Haley, Daniel Stern, Paul Dooley, and Barbara Barrie (in an Oscar nominated performance), we are proud to present one of America’s most beloved coming-of-age films.

Can you guess the film?