My Own Private Idaho

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My Own Private Idaho

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My Own Private Idaho

Chiara Caselli, Grace Zabriskie, James Russo, Jessie Thomas, Keanu Reeves

Two street hustlers from the Northwest, one abandoned as a child, the other rebellious scion of a wealthy and powerful family, travel as far as Rome, Italy in search of the former''s missing mother.

Id: 10903338

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My Own Private Idaho Recent Reviews
  • thmtsang
    July 11, 2009
    thmtsang
    Interesting movie about two guys from different backgrounds.
  • her69eyes
    March 24, 2009
    her69eyes
    Mike Waters (River Phoenix) is a handsome drifter and a male prostitute - a victim of a dysfunctional family and a painful youth. To add to his problems, he has the rare disorder known as narcolepsy, which means that he will simply fall asleep when confronted with any stressful s...( read more)ituation. He depends entirely on the kindness strangers to pick him up off the road or nudge him awake on the sidewalk, and in that way he's extraordinarily childlike and vulnerable.

    His friend, Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), is his direct opposite in every way but his profession. His childhood was much more rewarding having been born the son of the future mayor of Portland. Scott is in line to inherit his fortune, and although he's a lonesome drifter like Mike, it's clear that he has a way out. Scott's "father" away from home is Pigeon (William Richert), a drug-dealing poet, and the Falstaff to Scott's Prince Hal.

    I'm not exactly sure how to rate "My Own Private Idaho". I found the first hour or so to be nearly unbearable - with the Shakespearean dialect being a good idea in theory, but awful and awkward in execution. It reminded me of "Brick", a film that I found to be just about as appalling as the support of it. Also, for a film that's supposed to be about drifting, much of the beginning is largely about sex. While it doesn't make me uncomfortable in anyway, there's simply not much left to explore about fetishes and the comparison of love vs. sex - atleast not enough to hold my interest. We've seen it all before, and in the first half of the film I felt like I was treading water and investing in characters that are one-dimensional and simply not worth caring about.

    Then, in the second half of the film, things turn unusually great. Starting with the famous campfire scene, all the way up until about the last twenty minutes or so, I found the material to be extraordinarily compelling. I'm not entirely familiar with River Phoenix, which is surprising as I was a child of the 90's, but his performance here sold me on River Phoenix the actor as opposed to River Phoenix the teen heartthrob. A troubled youth with narcolepsy seems like a boring gimmick, however his performance is equal portions welcoming and withdrawn, tragic and heroic, man and woman. His performance in the second half is one of those great powerhouse performances that simply demands your attention at all times.

    In the end, I can only give a mild recommendation to "My Own Private Idaho" despite a very good second half. It's too inconsistent to be a great film, however it's certainly worth seeing for River Phoenix alone.
  • cigaretteburns
    February 14, 2009
    cigaretteburns
    [My favourite film in the whole entire universe!]
    Gus Van Sant's masterpiece, My Own Private Idaho, is a surreal character study/road movie that follows the lives of two street hustlers - Mike Waters (River Phoenix), our narcoleptic hero on a quest to find his mothe...( read more)r who abandoned him as a child, and gay-for-pay swashbuckler, Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), the mayor's rebellious son, who chooses to live on the streets and whore himself about town. Set in Portland, their days of wandering aimlessly around the city consists of a little recreational drug use, picking up a few johns, (no matter how repulsive), and not to mention quoting healthy paragraphs of Shakespeare. Personally, I've never been really big on Shakespeare, but what Van Sant has taken from his play Henry IV, (which is fairly minimal), creates a sort of dream-like atmosphere that becomes very hypnotic at times, but not over the top.

    The one person who makes this film really come to life is none other than the brilliant River Phoenix, who was essentially the James Dean of his generation. (And my favourite actor of all-time!) His portrayal of Mike Waters is so raw and moving, that the film actually becomes terribly depressing to watch. Mike's earnest search for his long-lost mother leads the pair to his childhood home in Idaho. Along the way, Mike declares his love for Scott during the classic campfire scene, in which River Phoenix actually wrote. Scott, who insists he only has sex with men for money, brushes him off with a hug, and the two remain best buds. That is, until their pilgrimage lands them in Rome, where Scott falls in love with a nice Italian girl. The two of them get married, Scott reforms himself, inherits his father's fortune, and wants nothing more to do with Mike or his old life.

    What makes My Own Private Idaho so marvelous is the fact that it is truly one of a kind. I guarantee you will never see another film like this.

    Have a nice day.
  • rebvodka042099
    August 16, 2008
    rebvodka042099
    Filled with great performances both by Keanu Reeves and late River Phoenix, through a world of hustling and futility, we see the lives of two men who have no idea what they want out of their life. This is by far one of the most poetic, greatest gay-related movies and one of Gus V...( read more)an Sant's best. Absolutely stunning, but it could do with a different ending...
  • columbiatch
    July 26, 2008
    columbiatch
    Great performance by River Pheonix and Udo Kier. There's this distinct Americana feel to this film that evokes the character's longing for home. The main problem was that I don't think hobos recite and enact Shakespear and quote from Chimes at Midnight for fun. While it's beau...( read more)tifully shot, I prefer the Bela Tarr influenced aesthetic of Paranoid Park more.
  • trakatranks
    December 30, 2009
    trakatranks
    Esta película posee ciertos elementos interesantes: fotografía, edición y la dirección de Gus Van Sant. Con varias escenas con diálogos que parecen sacados de una obra de teatro. Curiosos personajes, lugares poco frecuentes. Un película muy de los noventa, casi ochentera, diría yo.
  • OCButterfly99
    December 20, 2009
    OCButterfly99
    A must see movie, great movie for Keanu Reeves, James Russo, and I lovws Udo Kier. Classic.
  • soniachartray
    November 8, 2009
    soniachartray
    Il faut aimer le genre sombre et pathétique
  • stilettokillerz
    November 3, 2009
    stilettokillerz
    Poetic, strange, but sexy.
  • anunholyvoid
    September 25, 2009
    anunholyvoid
    Poetic and surreal movie about an emotional journey of a narcoleptic male prostitute who is in search of "home", or more specifically, his mother whom he has not seen since his abandonment during childhood. Phoenix gives an intense performance as the lead (often credited as his b...( read more)est ever performance) and alongside his real life best friend, Reeves, the two manage to generate a subtle beauty from a truly dark tale of unrequited love and friendship.
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