Vision Quest (1985)

Don't let the title, or the fact that this movie is about wrestling, deter you as it almost did me. Vision Quest is not a campy sci-fi flick, nor is it about a sweaty muscle head frolicking around in a leotard to Cyndi Lauper; it's an entertaining tale with hints of the irreplaceable 1980's luster that most of the great films from that era provide.

Louden Swain is sort of a goofy character, but he's authentic and ironclad. Louden drives through the experiences of youth with all the wonder and ferocity anyone could hope for. A combination of solid writing and acting render him a palpable character who's easy to empathize with. The northwestern city atmosphere helps.

Linda Fiorentino puts out a relatively deep character, and her looks don't hurt anything. There are some good performances elsewhere; happily, there really aren't many two dimensional characters to speak of.

Initially, the movie feels a little kitsch, but if you stick with it, you'll find it's more about coming of age and romance than sports. Not really a mind-blowing script or anything too memorable, but not at all a bad way to blow ninety minutes.

Fmovies: ...It's a way of life. Anyone who has ever wrestled, as I have, has learned lessons that stick with them for the rest of their lives. Even those who never make it to a tournament, or who don't get past being an "exhibition" wrestler learns these lessons. More than any other sport, wrestling teaches valuable lessons about self reliance, self determination, self confidence, and to get through life without making excuses for failure. It also teaches about setting lofty goals and not giving up when things go wrong, about what it takes to succeed in any station in life. This movie conveys these lessons well. Many folks who say this is a typical eighties movie should also know that the lessons it teaches are timeless, no matter what time period is depicted here. It could easily have been set in the fifties, sixties, nineties, right up to the present day and still say what it has to say. It's really a shame that real wrestling hasn't caught on too well in this country because it has some valuable life lessons to teach for those who become involved with it. Because when it gets right down to it, life is one big wrestling match. That is the theme of the movie, and it dramatized it very well.

Modine is a high school wrestler who's just turned 18 and is in so much of a hurry to grow up. In the first 45 minutes of the movie, he's chosen 3 or 4 different careers. (Ah! To be young, again!) The movie follows all the basic plot lines concerning coming of age that does stand the test of time, because, even though this movie is almost 20 years old, a lot of the kids today can relate to it.

Along the way, Modine's father (Cox) has lost his job, Modine decides to move down, not just one, but two, weight classes to take on the best wrestler in the state, and a very pretty Jersey girl (Fiorentino) shows up on his doorstep to take up all his spare "thinking" time.

This is really not a bad movie. It examines some of what goes on in someone's head when they get in the frame of mind that they want something that just about everyone else feels is unattainable for them. Modine does a very good job in bringing the character of Louden to believability, and the surrounding cast puts in a good effort as well. It is a better-than-average teen flick movie, but not much (but I think it's only because I haven't been a teen ager in so long, myself).

6 out of 10...

Vision Quest fmovies. A slightly different spin on the traditional Underdog Athlete Overcomes the Odds storyline, Vision Quest is a decent film for most viewers (for those who have actually endured the challenges of the collegiate wrestling world, the movie is practically required viewing!). Modine and Fiorentino, who went on to better-known films such as Equinox and Jade, respectively, are solid if unspectacular in roles as a high school wrestler and the world-weary object of his desires. Among the other notables who appear in the movie: a young Forrest Whitaker, James Gammon, Michael Schoeffling (Sixteen Candles), and Madonna, who contributed "Crazy For You" and "Gambler" to an underrated soundtrack. The wrestling sequences are gritty and realistic, as are the frequent portrayals of training. But the screenplay's dialogue is often choppy and does little to develop the potentially interesting characters. Subplots are hinted at but are not followed through with. And there is a lack of smooth transition between sequences. Still, Vision Quest is watchable and worthwhile as a rental (if you are a wrestler, this is especially true).

We used to watch this before big games. I especially like the Ronnie James Dio / Don Henley / Madonna soundtrack.

whatever happened to shute??? I hate wrestling but this is a classic underdog story.

Linda Fiorentino says she really likes 'big hands'. Hilarious. The wrestler character here is only about 100 times more believable than the Emilio Estevez character in Breakfast Club. Linda Fiorentino has great 80's hair in this film. The scenes with him climbing up the peg wall are the best non-Shute scenes by far. This picture has really solid naturalistic dialogue.

This isn't a movie about wrestling, it's a movie about a young 18-year-old wrestler trying to find his place in the world.

Louden Swayne (Matthew Modine) decides last minute to switch weight classes in order to be able to take on the best wrestler in the state, but his half-American Indian friend tells Louden that he's on a vision quest, trying to find his purpose in life, to "find the answers", even if he doesn't know the questions. The vision quest theme is not flushed out that well, but it's certainly a better title than "Crazy For You", which makes this movie seem like nothing more than a sappy romance flick.

His path crosses with Carla, a struggling artist (Linda Fiorentino) who gets stranded in Spokane, WA due to her lemon car; she ends up staying with Lauden and his father. Fiorentino gets all the good lines in this script, with Modine stuck playing the naive, hormonal teenager his character is for most of the movie.

Their relationship begins as a fraternal one -- she even declares him a "stepbrother" at one point, to his eternal dismay; he's already fallen in love with her.

At his job filling room service orders at a hotel, Lauden becomes good friends with the short-order cook, Elmo (J.C. Quinn), and the two have unusual conversations which serve to fill in Lauden's character without being too boring or overtly expositional.

Surprisingly good acting from Fiorentino and Quinn (especially during his Pele speech near the end), some snappy dialogue and a quick cameo from Madonna all lead to a movie that is easy to watch, with characters easy to like and to care about. Just remember -- no matter what anyone else says, it's not a wrestling movie.