Customer Reviews

My Own Private Idaho (The Criterion Collection)

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Most people seem shocked when I tell them that "My Own Private Idaho" is one of my favorite movies ever, though I don't see why. One of Gus Van Sant's lower budget films, this melancholic adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV" to the American West (chiefly Portland, Oregon and all around the western states) follows the adventures of a road-tripping prodigal son of wealthy and powerful politician (played to perfection by a reflective Keanu Reeves)and his best friend, a narcoleptic prostitute (a visionary performance by the late River Phoenix).

"My Own Private Idaho" is a marvel: dreamlike, eerie, haunting, constantly engaging, often surreal. There are a handful of films I have seen that completely transport me out of the feeling I'm seeing a film: this is one of them. The film's first haunting image of River Phoenix, alone, on a desolate stretch of Western highway, taken by his sickness, has to be seen to be believed; the eerie "Riding the Prairie" is a perfect complement to this movie about two strangers in a very strange land, journeying among the hustlers, hookers, con-men, schemers and bon vivants in the modern American West.

The plot is loose and rangy, and like its subjects, Van Sant uses it as needed to move the story along: Phoenix's character wants a reconciliation with his estranged mother, and certainly peace with himself. Keanu, sensing debauchery and fun, tags along, and the movie rambles about with them, taking note of their adventures and their pursuers (particularly delightful and outre is their awkward and funny tryst with an older woman, spoiled by Phoenix's narcolepsy, and a splendidly funny turn by Udo Kier as Hans, an unbearably kinky German john who simply will not be left behind).

For all its strangeness, there is a rich, empathetic core at the heart of this movie. Interviews with the film's young, hip, pierced and tattooed street prostitutes are funny, free-form, almost documentary in style, and often surprisingly moving, but the film is not hackneyed or saccharine; Van Sant has too much respect for his characters to ever stray into preachiness or movie-of-the-week ("this week: battling child prositution!" tone is not to be found here) territory.

The cinematography of "My Own Private Idaho" is lush and alluring, and the story and travels of its young and naive (albeit experienced) protagonists are fresh and intriguing enough for Van Sant to have neglected the tie-in with Shakespeare. That said, the allusion to Keanu as a treacherous Prince Hal, ready to sell out his friends to take up his destiny, doesn't harm the movie, and even accentuates its tragic tone---not to mention that indie-director William Richert is amusing as a latter-day Falstaff.

"My Own Private Idaho" is certainly not for everyone, and to many will seem contrived and inaccessible. But for the discriminating viewer who welcomes the opportunity to have River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves serve as tour guides into a strange and unsettling landscape, it will very likely prove unforgettable.

When *My Own Private Idaho* hit the rental shelves of the local movie theater way back in the early 90's, its reputation spread immediately among the young and restless of my small, conservative home-town. The consensus was of near-unanimous disgust, with common descriptions including "sick," "depraved," and that age-old chestnut "Confusing" with a capital "C." And yet my opinion was, typically, not that of the consensus. My artist's spirit identified with the wanderlust-yearning and puckish wonder inhabited in the vagabond Scott and Mike - a somewhat-sheltered mind's naïve lust for that opposite of its own experience. Although I certainly found myself shocked by the depiction of homosexual prostitution, the romantic tone and Shakespearan prose-play helped to penetrate (so to speak) this gutterpunk-fantasy firmly into the deepest reaches of my life-thirsty cerebrum; if anything, I found the homophobic snarls of my teenage compatriots in regards to this film more disturbing - on an immediate, reactionary level - than any fantastical degradation the film itself presented.

Immersed in that heady sensation of nostalgia and curiosity, I looked forward to a mature re-viewing of this art house masterpiece: of filtering Van Zant's intentions through an adult lens. Accordingly, I found that which impressed me most as a child seemed less important to my current mindset, and vice versa - no longer was I wholly enraptured by the wide-shots of empty highways and the plethora of bizarre chance encounters (elements so common to life on the road): having Kerouac'ed my way across the world, I must admit to preferring my own experiences to *Idaho's* hodge-podge questing. Consequently, the depiction of street-life squalor, early 90's-era Portland style, resonated far deeper this time around: a bell-toll for the doomed.

River Phoenix shines in perhaps his defining role as Mike, a homeless narcoleptic endlessly conking out in moments of stress, shivering and twitching in ecstatic remembrance of mommy dearest and sharecropper-esque glory (decrepit farmhouses and dust-bowl potato-sprawl): several scenes, including his breakdown at the fire and romper-stomp at the funeral, shine with a quicksilver talent so brilliant that it easily transcends the drug-addled ghost Phoenix was already beginning to become. As for Keanu Reeves... well, I've always been of the opinion that he is the most underrated of H-wood's golden A-list, a man with deep presence and charisma, hampered by a stoic demeanor and tonal limitations. I must admit I found it rather disconcerting to see Neo preening on the cover of a porno-rag: still, Reeve's subtle reactions to Fat Bob and Mike's outspoken coat-tail riding; his recitation of Shakespeare, Henry V style, with a cowboy twang thrown in at the pivotal tension-trigger; and finally his ascension from rebellious naïf to "master of the universe"-Reeves gives an outstanding performance, among his very best (though this may come across as an oxymoron to some - so be it).

Moreover, the very tools that romanticize *Idaho's* ne'er-do-well protagonists -- Celtic rhythms, lurid colors, Ye Olde English capering - also flip-side emphasize the constant-trauma and grimy exploitation of the LCD rent-boy's raw existence, with suffering only alleviated via spurts of snorting, drinking, mischief and, perchance, a miraculous stranger's unexpected generosity. As Fat Bob and Mike's illusions of wealth-an eternal party utterly devoid of street-life cost-unravel, the subsequent denouement is immeasurably augmented by the early 'warmth' of the film, and the steady chill that seeps through the cracks, numbing body and mind, overwhelm its progression until abrupt collapse upon the desolate highway of the ending.

A few noteworthy scenes: When Fat Bob coldly warns Mike about "Living on yer [arse]," the horrific undercurrent ramifications cut the usual tongue-wag riffing like a knife. Likewise, near the movie's conclusion, when Mike slumps into his ump-teenth narcoleptic fit on a filthy concrete street, the camera pans to Scott newly-settled in his seat of mobile power, enforcing the inevitable destiny of these lost souls, harlots high and low: one elevated to the highest reaches of society, the other forever abandoned to the cold stone and cold hands of the Outskirts.

*My Own Private Idaho:* a paean for the lost and lonely, the gutterpunk romantic in us all. Five stars.

Being fairly new to the world of 'art-house' movies, i first found this a little confusing, and i was concerned that this strange approach would hinder the emotional impact of the film, rendering it yet another overly stylish, powerless and incomprehensible piece of modern film-art. I had also heard that it was extremely shocking and controversial. However, i began to understand Gus Van Sant's language, and it soon seemed completely natural. The claims regarding its explicit sexual nature have been, fankly, grossly exaggerated and probably the result of mild homophobia. The camp fire scene is the most memorable, with River Phoenix's perfomance as Mike, subtle and shining as usual, bringing to mind the very similar camp-fire scene in "Stand by me". Having only seen Keanu Reeves appear in such films as 'Speed' and 'the Matrix', in which he hardly demonstrates any power or skill as an actor, it came as somewhat of a pleasant surprise to see his humorous and striking portrayal of Scott. A sensitive choice of music contributed to the mood, both in the comic, nostalgic steel-string guitar to the gentle folk song that plays as Mike vows through tears to find his mother (by the way, does anybody know what that song is or how to find out?). I was slightly disappointed and depressed by the ending, which is extremely inconclusive, but i suppose movies don't always need a conclusive ending to make them good. Overall a visually stylish, emotionally powerful movie, with some fantastic acting by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.

I know this review gets a little self-indulgent, but if you'll allow me to get autobiographical for just a second, you'll see why I do.

When River Phoenix breathed his last in front of Johnny Depp's Viper Room on Halloween morning in 1993, I think I was just the right age to feel a certain frisson in his passing that wouldn't have been there a year or two either way. My friend and I came home from a snowy night among trick or treaters to graphic news accounts of Phoenix's passing, and for reasons that made perfect sense to us then, we went out and got this movie on video. Ultimately we ended up buying it and watching it shall we say A LOT till about the end of the year, when new misfortunes came along, eventually in the next spring taking the form of Kurt Cobain's suicide, which trumped all previous newsworthy events in our young lives.

Well, recently I got My Own Private Idaho on DVD, motivated more about nostalgia for ninth-grade and a weirdly River Phoenix obsessed fall than out of remaining affection for the movie itself, but you know, after watching it from my perspective of today, this is a lot better film than for all my sentimentality I'd remembered it being. From its re-telling of Shakespeare with a modern boldness unseen by anything else until Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo+Juliet a few years later, to its in-your-face trip into the living hell of junky male prostitutes living homeless in circa 1990 Portland and Seattle, Gus Van Sant's quirky film seems even more an achievement now than it ever did back in the day. In viewing My Own Private Idaho, you get to hear tales of life on the streets as told by real-life hustlers, and you get to see a pre-A-list Keanu Reeves act in his own unique and inimitable style. But above all, to be honest, the ghost of River Phoenix still haunts this movie, and always will. To view it from an all-knowing hindsight and understand that according to so many THIS was the project that introduced the one-time clean living son of hippies to the quick thrill of hard drugs...that hasn't ceased to deliver a punch, even in a more jaded decade such as this one.

If you haven't seen My Own Private Idaho, see it; it's destined to be a classic one day. If it's been a while, see it again. It holds up well and it should tell you something about how much you've changed with time.

Thanks for reading!

Rarely have I been fortunate enough to stumble upon a movie like My Own Private Idaho. From the opening scene of River Phoenix's character Mike Waters standing on the road (that seems to stretch on forever) to his last words back on the same road at the films close. ("I've been tasting roads my whole life. This road will never..end. It probably goes all around the world.") I've watched this movie over and over and I still find it to be the most beautiful, bittersweet, funny, brave and thought-provoking film I've ever seen. The deinitive indie film of the 90's. The issues raised are so close to my own humble heart that certain scenes, (notabley the camp fire scene, Bob's death and funeral, and the closing scene) never fail to reduce me to a blithering mess of empathy, hope, sadness and happiness. A powerful cinematic experience indeed. Brillient direction, fascinating and daring subject matter and, most watch-worthy of all, the best performance ever captured on screen by anyone anywhere. River Phoenix's performance as Mike Waters is simultainiously painfully real, heartwrenchingly sad and achingly beautiful. Much like the actor himself. Hollywoods greatest loss. River, I love you, miss you, thank you and will NEVER forget you.

I did not know exactly to expect when watching this movie but I am a big fan of River Phoenix so I decided to give it a shot. I watched about the first third or so of it and found myself thinking I can't believe I rented this, with the exception of a few scenes that I thought were pretty funny, but when the campfire scene happened I became more involved with the film. I started to see Mike more as a person searching for love and his mother instead of just a male prostitute that fell asleep a lot. I thought River's acting was brilliant. Everything I have seen him in so far is so believable to me. For example, when he sees Scott and his new girlfriend kissing at the dinner table he blows smoke at them, out of obvious jealousy, and he can't sleep when he hears them making love in the next room. I think he was excellent in picking up people's mannerisms and the little things that people do. I ended up being so mad at Scott in the end and was saddened in how it seemed that Mike would live that life until his death. The role of Mike was played perfectly in that it seemed that he didn't even like being a prostitute, evident by his fits of sleep during most of those situations, but he was just trying to get by and find love. The believable acting, mostly by River, and the sadness and emotional vulnerability of the second 2 thirds or so of the film more than make up for the beginning. I hope to look deeper into people's lives and less likely to judge others, something that I must admit needing a little more help in. It really saddens me that there are people right now as I'm typing this review living lives similar to this one feeling like the "road never ends" for them. God bless them and everyone else.

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO is an incredible film that really has it all: two charismatic stars, a unique mix of comedy and tragedy, some beautiful imagery, fantastic dialogue, a story that manages to move along at a pretty good clip, and a terrific ending that is open to interpretation. What else could you want?

At the core of the movie is the relationship between Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves), who are working as street hustlers in the Northwest. Mike is a lonely character, emotionally vulnerable as a result of his dysfunctional upbringing and often physically vulnerable as a result of his narcolepsy. He is a lost soul, a drifter desperate for love. Scott, on the other hand, is calculating, merely toying with street life until he inherits the life laid out for him by his father's wealth and power. Still, Scott does seem to have a fair amount of genuine affection and concern for Mike, often taking care of him during his narcoleptic attacks and going along with him as he hits the road in search of his mother. The heart of this movie is the contrast between these two and the bond between them, despite their obviously deep divisions.

River Phoenix turns in my favorite performance of his tragically brief career, and really carries the movie while Keanu Reeves, although his character is nearly as interesting as River's, more than holds his own as well. What keeps this from being a five star movie is Gus Van Sant's incorporation of Shakespeare into the script. It's a cheap gimmick that adds very little to the movie and really only serves to label the movie as a knock-off. I think most of the people who saw this movie would have seen the HENRY IV parallels in Scott's story without having the ACTUAL dialogue dropped on our heads. Still, it's ultimately a minor complaint and absolutely no reason to stay away from the film. River Phoenix's performance alone makes this one a must see.

An interesting film that looks at the lives of two street kids and their travels to find a true home and adoration. The cast is wonderful with River Phoenix (Mike) giving a heartbreaking performance as a nomad in search of his mother, and the deep longing for love and acceptance from a slumming rich kid, Scott (Keanu Reeves). The direction is mellow and passive in rich oranges and pastels with shots framed on the subject matter in bare form. The film never bows down to a perfect ending nor does it make victims or violators of the characters. It was a breakthrough art film that has aged well and avoided stereotypes immersing itself in the human characteristics everyone shares.

My Own Private Idaho, a drama loosely based off of William Shakespeare's "Henry IV", parts one and two is a hearty look into the lives of some boys out on the street. What comes from Shakespeare's play is the concept of a young man avoiding following his father's footsteps as a government leader by keeping disreputable company and then abandoning his friends after inheriting his father's fortune, picking up a wife in a foreign country, and starting a political career. But that's not the only focus of the film, you see. The two main characters in the story, Mike (River Pheonix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves), are observed as their relationship crumbles once Scott leaves the hustler lifestyle. My Own Private Idaho isn't about being a male prostitute, though, even if there is some great documentary-like pieces of their lifestyle scattered within.

I thought it was very well-rounded and had some wonderful characters, especially Mike, the homosexual narcoleptic searching for meaning. He was often unpredictable and gets the viewer truly engaged in the film, or at least he got me into it. The settings and transitions were rather haunting, as well. There are re-occurring themes of being on the go and oblivion perfectly expressed by the scenes of Mike laying in the middle of a completely deserted road in Idaho. He keeps telling himself how familiar it all seems...so familiar.

Well-acted and scripted and brilliantly directed (with fine use of colour, recurring motifs and bold credits), Idaho possesses a rare, dream-like quality. The music too is excellent, particularly in the perfect first and final scenes. You'll never listen to The Pogues' "The Old Main Drag" without thinking of this movie and of its central figure: Mike appearing from the left of the frame with only a black bag and a stopwatch, of the fireside scene, and of the final line: "This road will never end. It probably goes all... around...the world..."

Whatever you think about Keanu Reeves, River Phoenix, Gus Van Sant, or Portland, this is an intelligent, thought-provoking, and inspirational film of the 1990s. Though some may not be able to appreciate it (just don't "get it"), I highly recommend My Own Private Idaho to those looking for something with a different scope on life.

My Own Private Idaho has all a film needs to be called a classic and a masterpiece; it has an excellent story, that partly revolves around existentialistic questions, and partly serves as a sort of road-movie. It has an incredibly talented and unafraid director who obviously has been able to find the right actors, the right camerapeople, the right music, the right locations. And who has had the guts to take chances, allow new ideas (eg. River Phoenix wrote the scene by the camp fire), be bold and daring and let the film emerge "on its own". The result could have been disasterous (as can happen when you take chances), but it all clicked magically and turned out to be the best, most beatiful, honest, well-made and cool film made in the 90s. I will recommend fans to try to get hold of the original screenplay for this film, cause it will show the interesting changes that were made during the making of the film. Scott Favor and Mike Waters are one of the most fascinating couples in the history of film.