Vision Quest

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Vision Quest

R,

1985,

1h 47m,

Drama/

Romance

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Watchlist

63%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

63%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

High school wrestler Louden Swain feels he must do something significant in his life shortly after turning 18. Despite vehement advice against it from his father and coach, Swain decides to try to lose over 20 pounds in a very short time in an attempt to take on the defending state champion of a lower weight class. Meanwhile, he falls for the edgy, older Carla, who provides further distraction for the young wrestler.

Paul Attanasio

Washington Post

Jan 4, 2018

That's the problem with all of "Vision Quest" -- when the movie ends with Louden narrating off-screen his "live for today" philosophy, it's plausible in his mouth, a joke for adults.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Oct 23, 2004

3.5/4

A movie with some nice surprises, mostly because it takes the time to create some interesting characters.

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Jack Garner

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Feb 14, 2025

3/5

[Matthew Modine's] portrait of Louden Swain is multi-layered and believable, both on and off the wrestling mat. It's one of those rare performances that carries an otherwise-mundane motion picture.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

May 12, 2022

2.5/4

Vision Quest improves substantially as it progresses into a midsection rife with appealing, entertaining subplots...

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Kenneth R. Morefield

1More Film Blog

Feb 14, 2019

3.5/5.0

I would hardly be the first critic to suggest that its rote sports-movie structure and the presence of Linda Fiorentino as an implausibly available older woman masks Vision Quest's strange homoerotic subtext.

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Chuck O'Leary

FulvueDrive-in.com

May 7, 2007

2/5

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Ron G

Oct 5, 2018

This is a great movie for high schoolers, especially seniors as this story surrounds a HS Senior who is hellbent on leaving his legacy upon wrestling team. Along the way, he becomes sidetracked when he meets a drifter and offers his assistance. This movie isn't liked by critics, but I would say it has a large enough cult following for anyone to give it a watch. It came at a time in the 80's that was dominated by directors Harold Ramis, John Hughes and "The Brat Pack," which could be why it was never given the exposure it deserved. It's definitely a refreshing 80's movie as it steps away from some of the more melodramatic movies associated with the decade. It's far more subtle and intriguing to watch. An solid 4 stars.

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Abraham M

Nov 21, 2017

18 year old Louden Swain (Matthew Modine) intends to drop his weight to 168 pounds so that he can challenge a much more undefeated wrestler from another high school. And it is during then is when Louden falls for a slightly older woman named Carla(Linda Fiorintino) who is 21 from which she is invited to stay with his dad as a result trouble with her vehicle. This was also the movie that introduced to 2 hit songs of "Crazy For You" from Madonna and "Only The Young" by Journey.

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Han S

Mar 13, 2017

Matthew Modine x Michael Schoeffling x ?Crazy For You?.

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Harold Becker

Director

Matthew Modine

Louden Swain

Linda Fiorentino

Carla

Michael Schoeffling

Kuch

Ronny Cox

Louden's Dad

Harold Sylvester

Tanneran

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Synopsis

High school wrestler Louden Swain feels he must do something significant in his life shortly after turning 18. Despite vehement advice against it from his father and coach, Swain decides to try to lose over 20 pounds in a very short time in an attempt to take on the defending state champion of a lower weight class. Meanwhile, he falls for the edgy, older Carla, who provides further distraction for the young wrestler.

Director: Harold Becker
Producer: Jon Peters, Peter Guber
Screenwriter: Darryl Ponicsan
Production Co: Warner Bros., The Guber-Peters Company
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 24, 2008
Runtime: 1h 47m
Sound Mix: Surround

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