Vision Quest

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source: Vision Quest

I watched this film back in the 80's. I remembered it as a super film. Wanting to watch it again I rented it and realised I had gone through the change Louden had in the film, therefore bringing me to a matured level where I could see that this film was only great when you didn't know about the difficulties that life could bring you. In retrospect, the struggle Louden goes through seems like child's play to what I know now. Rated R but in many ways it should be PG since this movie is really meant for those breaking into high school. From that age it was a 9/10. Now it's a lack luster 5/10. Perspectives change and with it the seriousness of various topics. Otherwise, fun film. Others that use sports as a catalyst to get their message across can be found under the titles: "Touch and Go", "Youngblood", "American Flyers", "Breaking Away", "All the Right Moves". Many more if you know where to look.

This is one of the finest coming-of-age films I have ever seen, ranking well above such films as "The Breakfast Club" or "Pretty in Pink." The story concerns a young high school wrestler and his decision to drop two weights so that he can wrestle the local high school terror.It is not only a rare look at what high school life really is, but it has many memorable lines in it, such as: "You have a lifetime left. Why waste it missing what's already gone? Just think of all the wonderful world you haven't seen yet." This film also has an excellent sound track, including Journey and the song "Crazy for You" by Madonna. If you decide to rent this film, curl up on the couch with your sweetie or even a close friend and remember the bittersweet days of high school and the days of your youth. Enjoy!

This is a movie about wresslin, to be more accurate High School wresslin, the toughest of its kind, and no one on earth has a clearer understanding of this fact then young Matthew Modine. The movie starts off pretty basic, Modine lives with his uncaring pop Ronny Cox and Linda Fiorentino plays a young artist caught in the middle of their world. The movie gets going right away and the training sequences are excellent, although i cant tell if MM actually wrestled at any point in his life, he does an alright job portraying the weight cutting, nose bleeding, underwear inspecting-jock in this weird movie about strange bedfellows. Linda Fiorentino looks good in this movie for five seconds then she just starts looking downright grisly. The more the movie went on the more she started to look like a guy. And with all the hype of the star wrestler appropriately named "shoot", his bark is much bigger then his bite as the climactic match has as much pop as a flat soda in the middle of a pizza party. The movie is pretty good albeit racked with totally uninspired performances from everyone except Steve Perry who's belting out some eighties single he threw together after Journey broke up. This is nothing amazing, its just o.k. in my book, i would have liked to see more training and more fighting, the nemesis wrestler Modine must face who everyone in the movie is absolutely terrified of gets little screen time, and the side story with Linda Fiorentino is unnecessary in my opinion and was added to make this a date movie. So throw on your singlet and fire up some plain popcorn for this barn-buster. 5 thumbs. meh.

I was expecting more. I thought at the very least the object of desire, in this case, Carla, would be wearing something sexy or acting sensual, but no, none of that. She speaks with a coarse voice, wears clothes that cover her up and has zero sex appeal. Even the sex scene is only 5 seconds. I found it cringe that the lead actor is only 18yrs old and yet we're supposed to believe he's falling in love, too young! Zero chemistry between the two lead characters. Storyline and pacing slow and boring. Likeable lead character but that's where the pros for this movie end. Not what I was expecting.

I love the 80s. I love teen 80s movies. I love 'Vision Quest,' (as sappy as it may have been). But they took Terry Davis' wonderful novel and killed everything about it that made it wonderful. The novel and the movie are about the same thing: a teenager named Louden Swain who is on a Vision Quest to prove his worth (to himself, if no one else). The novel, of the bildungsromane sorts (consult your dictionaries, kiddies), was about a much more adult Swain who uses wrestling as a metaphor for struggles in his own life and thing he sincerely appreciates about the people around him,which he starts to analyze more when he goes up against an extremely tough wrestling opponent, state champion Shoop. He's a pretty admirable character. The movie is about a horny teen who's vision quest ("finding his place in the circle"), which pretty much only concerns wrestling heavyweight Shoop as a way to "make his mark" when he enters manhood (he's turning 18). Although, the quest becomes jeopardized when a cynical drifter, Carla (Linda Florentino) comes to town and changes Louden's life. Actually, her presence is not so profound in the end. The movie is decent if you don't mind the awkwardness of Modine's portrayal of the character, as well meaning as Louden Swain may be. He's more dignified in the novel, despite only being a teenager. You still get a good story and, eighties fans are sure to enjoy the movie, despite trashing the novel. If they did ever remake this movie (and I hope to god, that no one in mainstream Hollywood gets the idea to do so), it is the one case in which they should consider sticking to the novel. Look for the elusive Michael Schoeffling as Louden's friend, Kuch. Forrest Whitakker, Daphne Zunigan , and Raphael Sbarge all have minor roles (though Forrest Whittaker already made a name for himself in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' three years earlier). Plus, Madonna briefly appears as a club singer to perform 'Crazy for You,' and 'Gambler,' both of which are on the soundtrack. See the movie. Read the novel. And enjoy.

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.

Ever since the mid '80s when I saw Madonna's Crazy For You video, which featured clips from this film, I've been hoping to catch it on television, as I didn't want to spend any cash on renting a dud. Good thing I didn't bother, as this is a pretty lack lustre affair. Matthew Modine looks about 30, and is supposed to be playing an 18 year old. While Linda Fiorentino, who looks really sexy nowadays, looks like a tomboy as another poster has mentioned. The-underdog-striving-against-all-odds thing has been done before in countless better made movies, like Rocky for example. I found it hard to see what attracted Mr Modine to Ms F's sullen character. But then, I should look at it from the perspective of an 18 year old, who fancies an 'older' (by three years) woman. Everyone's acting is bland, apart from the late Charles Hallahan's as Modine's wrestling coach, and the film sort of plods along. The only saving grace is it's brill soundtrack featuring some of the '80s best US acts, like Don Henley and Madonna who briefly appears singing live in a club. Strangely, Madonna once said of her '80s incarnation; 'I hate THAT person'. Methinks that was her finest hour.

Although it spawned a popular soundtrack (featuring two Madonna songs, which she performs on-screen as a bar singer), "Vision Quest" didn't quite become the male-version of "Flashdance", if only because the narrative--a male teen striving for success on the high school wrestling team--was not as embracing as a female welder dreaming of becoming a ballerina. The two films certainly look similar, with this one getting a smoky-and-slick blue-collar scenario which looked pretty good when chopped up into music video form. The movie itself isn't as energized, what with Matthew Modine looking too old to play a senior and Linda Fiorentino (in a Jennifer Beals poof 'do) seductively lurking around as the older woman-boarder in Modine's house. There's a rebuffed homosexual come-on at the very beginning which telegraphs us in no uncertain terms that Modine may be a virgin, but by golly he's straight as an arrow! Scripts like this belong to a different time-period altogether, pre-"Flashdance" actually...closer to something from Mickey Rooney's era. * from ****