Vision Quest

Plot

In this coming-of-age story, Lowden Swain (Matthew Modine) is a high school wrestler who has just turned 18 and decided that he needs to do something truly meaningful in his life. He embarks on a mission to drop two weight classes in order to challenge the toughest opponent, Brian Shute (Frank Jasper), a menacing 3-time state champion from nearby rival Hoover High School, who has never been defeated in his high school career. In his zeal to drop from 190 pounds to 168 pounds, against the wishes of his coach (Charles Hallahan) and teammates, he disrupts the team around him and creates health problems of his own.

Meanwhile, his father (Ronny Cox) has taken on a boarder named Carla (Linda Fiorentino) from Trenton, New Jersey, passing through on her way to San Francisco. Though she is older, Louden begins to fall in love with her and begins to lose sight of his goals as a wrestler. Worse, his drastic weight loss culminates in an unhealthy situation in which he gets frequent nosebleeds due, Louden claims, to a lack of iron in his diet (which costs him a match that he should have won). He and Carla finally admit their love for one another, but she realizes this is distracting him from his goals. She decides to move out and continue on to San Francisco, but not before seeing Louden's big match in which he defeats Shute in the final seconds with an over-under hip toss.

Cast

Production

The film was shot at Rogers High School in northeast Spokane, referred to as "Thompson High School" in the film. Interior cafeteria scenes were filmed at Ferris High School on Spokane's South Hill. Some of the locker room scenes were filmed in the boys' locker room of Shadle Park High School in northwest Spokane. Madonna's scene was filmed at the Big Foot Tavern on North Division Street in Spokane. Other scenes were shot at The Onion Restaurant downtown and the North Central High School gym.

Reception

The film had moderate success in theaters in the U.S. in 1985, earning a gross of $13 million. It has received a rating of 58% at Rotten Tomatoes and has become something of a cult classic among middle and high school wrestlers for its various wrestling scenes, in particular Louden's extreme weight loss measures and workout regimen.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the motion picture was released by Geffen Records on February 12, 1985, it was renamed Crazy for You in some countries such as Australia and the UK due to the new popularity of pop singer Madonna and her song "Crazy for You".

The soundtrack does not include the background instrumental music by Tangerine Dream, which was released on the fan project Tangerine Tree 73: Soundtrax.

The album peaked at #11 in the Billboard charts.

Potential remake

In 2009, interest in a remake was generated after Taylor Lautner of Twilight fame expressed interest. E! News claimed a script existed which Lautner reportedly approved.