Bills Mafia Movie Reviews: Sean McDermott's favorite flick, "Vision Quest"

If you haven’t heard yet, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane have both been extended. Along with the news of that development came fact sheets on the pair including McDermott's favorite movie; the 1985 flick “Vision Quest.” Our editor in chief, Matt Byham, thought it would be fun to review coach’s favorite film and so here are. The first-ever Buffalo Rumblings movie review.

Get your popcorn ready as I take on an 80s-era sports movie...

“Vision Quest” stars Matthew Modine as an awkward high-school teenager struggling with his feelings toward a drifter (Linda Fiorentino) while cutting weight to take on the fiercest wrestler in the state of Washington. The movie approaches Modine’s struggles with both in a straightforward, sincere manner.

Anyone revisiting movies from the 80s has likely discovered that a lot has changed in the last 40 years or so; making past classics near unwatchable. While Modine’s protagonist has several cringe-worthy moments (and one moment of arguable crime), the movie holds up well overall. The occasional misogynistic and homophobic comments exist, but are portrayed in what’s still an unfortunately realistic manner in 2023.

You can find out all this with other movie reviews — it’s time to tie this **** into the Bills!

“Vision Quest” is roughly one hour and 20 minutes of distilled Process. The movie features an unusually tight-knit support network for an 80s sports movie. Modine is greeted by a supportive dad, a helpful coworker, a best friend who has his back, and rival/teammate who cheers as hard for Modine as anyone else. Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) from “Spaceballs” provides an alternate love interest who supports Modine’s wrestling career and academic excellence. Tears, messages of love, and more stand out like a sore thumb in this era of movies.

The primary conflict of the movie is on Modine’s struggles to be the best version of himself while everyone around him embodies the “iron sharpens iron” philosophy that we’ve all heard since McDermott arrived in Western New York. Spoiler alert, but Modine’s quest to cut weight gets a final last push as his feelings toward the beautiful drifter come to a head. Sorry, I’m being more subtle than the movie. Modine cuts the last bit of weight by cutting his virginity.

All good movie critics need to have a rating scale. While I’m not a good movie critic, I give “Vision Quest” 4 tines out of a possible 5 on my proprietary “pitchfork” scale. Modine comes across as goofy and awkward, which is actually perfect for the role. A great supporting cast powers a surprisingly deep dramatic story packaged in a capable sports theme. The movie is especially good for Bills fans, as it’s quite obvious what the draw is for McDermott.

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