Vision Quest

Directed by Harold Becker, Vision Quest follows teen wrestler Louden Swain (Matthew Modine) as he sets out to drop two weight classes to go up against a rival school’s toughest opponent (Frank Jasper’s Brian Shute) – with Louden’s efforts complicated by his growing romantic feelings for a pretty, jaded older woman named Carla (Linda Fiorentino). It’s familiar territory that is, at the outset, employed to less-than-promising effect by Becker, as the filmmaker, armed with Darryl Ponicsan’s screenplay, delivers a sluggish and uneventful opening stretch that doesn’t contain much in the way of attention-grabbing, engrossing elements – with the watchable atmosphere, then, due almost entirely to the top-notch work of the picture’s various performers. (Modine’s extremely agreeable turn is matched by a stellar supporting cast that includes Ronny Cox, Michael Schoeffling, and Roberts Blossom.) There’s little doubt, then, that Vision Quest improves substantially as it progresses into a midsection rife with appealing, entertaining subplots, including an engaging digression involving a seemingly easygoing character saddled with an abusive home life, and it’s clear, too, that the movie benefits from a smattering of unexpectedly captivating scenes within its third act (eg a terrific scene featuring an emotional speech by Louden’s grizzled coworker). And although the wrestling-heavy climax is perhaps not quite as spellbinding as Becker has obviously intended, Vision Quest nevertheless comes off as a mostly compelling drama that could (and should) have topped out at around 90 minutes.

**1/2 out of ****