Vision Quest is a movie, released in 1985, that centers on Louden Swain (played by Matthew Modine), a high school senior and wrestler in the 190 pound weight class.
He turns 18 in the fall of his last year in high school, and he realizes that he hasn't got any sense of himself, and that he hasn't any accomplishments or goals to define himself. He decides to drop weight to 168, so that he can wrestle Brian Shute, a state champ in that class who has never been defeated.
Sucking weight proves to be very difficult, and Louden commits to "600 calorie a day diet, working out like a madman." Adding to his burden is a young woman (Carla, played by Linda Fiorentino) stranded in Spokane, Washington, on her way to San Francisco to become an artist, who is living in his house and who he becomes infatuated with.
Vision Quest is pretty standard "coming-of-age" fare, but it is some of the best of this genre. In addition, it has an excellent soundtrack to speak for it, as well as being some of the first work of Fiorentino, Modine, and Forrest Whitaker. Also, it provides a very accurate portrayal of high school wrestling and the rigors of making weight.
Credits
- Matthew Modine / Louden Swain
- Linda Fiorentino / Carla
- Michael Shoeffling / Kuch
- Ronny Cox / Louden's father
- Harold Sylvester / Tanneran
- Charles Hallahan / Coach
- J.C. Quinn / Elmo
- Daphne Zunia / Margie Epstein
- R.H. Thompson / Kevin
- Gary Kasper / Otto
- Forest Whitaker / Balldozer
- Frank Jasper / Shute
Soundtrack