Indiana plays role as setting of several big-screen pictures

As you read this I am a few thousand miles away enjoying time with my wife's family in England.

It's a place that I have become very familiar with over the years. I know to look right and then left when crossing the street, can comfortably order a pint in a pub and am no longer confused by the monetary system. In truth, England hardly feels foreign. To feel like a fish out of water, I'd have to go somewhere much more exotic and farther from my experiences.

Perhaps Indiana.

For me, the American Midwest has always been sort of a big, flat blank. I've spent little time there, usually only driving through on the way to one coast from another. In fact, everything I know about Indiana, which for me represents everything Midwest, comes from the movies. I know that there is more to the state than farm fields and auto racing, but I can't tell you what that might be.

Here are some films about the self-proclaimed Crossroads of America that have formed my opinions:

BREAKING AWAY (1979): Set and filmed in the college town of Bloomington, this charming film combines the seemingly disparate elements of bicycle racing, class struggle and the classic coming-of-age tale seamlessly. The film's climatic sequence, a bike race/marathon called the Little 500, is an actual event and has featured a team called the Cutters - as in the movie - every year since the film's release.

HOOSIERS (1986): My father, who was born and spent his early years in Indiana, believed this to be greatest film ever made. I'm not sure whether I'm willing to go that far, but its openly sentimental view of the land, people and crazy basketball passion of Indiana make for a pretty entertaining couple of hours. Dennis Hopper's performance as a man who finds a new lease on life via his son's high school basketball team is particularly fine.

RUDY (1993): You would be hard pressed to find a place as closely associated with the state of Indiana as the University of Notre Dame near South Bend. The true story of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, a less-than-promising football fan, who, in true Hollywood fashion, fought, struggled and succeeded with the vaunted Notre Dame football team. Guaranteed to make a grown man cry.

IN & OUT (1997): Based loosely on a true event - Tom Hanks thanking a gay drama teacher during an Oscar acceptance speech - this movie about an educator (Kevin Kline), who might or might not have been outed, uses small-town Indiana as an integral part of the plot. Understanding that the small Midwest town was a perfect microcosm for American society, the filmmakers take a fishbowl approach, focusing not just on the teacher but also on those who surround him. A smart, sweet and very funny film.

SPEED (1936): Like the Masters Tournament, The Indianapolis 500 is as much about history and tradition as the competition itself. It's what makes the race and this film so interesting. Though it's true that this movie, which stars a very young Jimmy Stewart as a callow racer, tends to err on the side of the melodramatic, it's an interesting portrait of a grand sporting - and Indiana - tradition.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.