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Picture
Two best friends living on the streets as hustlers embark on a journey
​of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
DRAMA

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Written and Directed by Gus Van Sant

Starring River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, William Richert,
​James Russo, Rodney Harvey, Chiara Caselli, Udo Kier

Austin Johnson
July 7, 2020
8/10
Gus Van Sant has had a wildly unpredictable career that doesn’t always satisfy me as a viewer, but the experience is usually something I can talk about. My Own Private Idaho is one of the better ones in my opinion with two all star performances at the center. The screenplay is based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV and V but definitely has a major spin on it and the film itself is one of the prime time titles of the New Queer Cinema movement. I’ve watched a good amount of films from that era lately, and this one is a must see when it comes to LGBTQ films.  

Mike is a street hustler who suffers narcoleptic episodes every now and again and Scott is a street hustler who is the son of a very wealthy man. They both sell their bodies for money to male and female clients while hanging out with other hustlers of all kinds in the American North West. Mike finds purpose in searching for his mother after finding out that she moved to Rome and Scott just kind of lives to defy his father. The journey they take challenges their relationship and their own identities.

Keanu Reeves is really good as Scott but holy shit, River Phoenix disappears as Mike. His hair, his boots, and his fucking voice had my eyes moving all over the screen with so much anticipation. Gus Van Sant is extremely talented but there’s typically something in his films that I don’t really dig or quite understand. With My Own Private Idaho, I feel a sincere sense of purpose almost the entire time. This is one of Keanu's better roles and maybe the best performance of River's entire career. 

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