My Private Idaho
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My Private Idaho
Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix star in Academy Award-nominated director Gus Van Sant's seminal meditation on the nature of innocence as two young men living on the fringes of society.
Directors Gus Van Sant Starring River Phoenix , Keanu Reeves , James Russo Genres Drama Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English
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Gus Van Sant - director See profile
Supporting actors William Richert , Rodney Harvey , Chiara Caselli , Michael Parker , Jessie Thomas , more… Flea , Grace Zabriskie , Tom Troupe , Udo Kier Producers Laurie Parker Studio Warner Bros. Rating R (Restricted) Purchase rights Stream instantly Details Format Prime Video (streaming online video) Devices Available to watch on supported devices
Ian Vance Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2004
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.
Mark Boysen Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2022
First off the shows inaccurate portrayal and use of narcolepsy in the story is something I couldn’t get past for one since it’s so central. People must not know or care because I don’t remember that as an issue. The story is I hear supposed to follow a Shakespeare play, but if that’s not something you are clued into, it comes off kind of less than clear at times, and always clunky. I am the minority I’m aware. I still stick with it
Yanitsa Marrero Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2022
I absolutely loved this movie and I’ve watched it numerous times. It may be difficult to understand at first, but it all comes together in the end. If you are a big fan of River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, like me, this is definitely a must-see. I loved them in this film!!
TM Conway Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2019
Heartbreaking and innovative are the two words that come to mind. I like the subject matter which I don't think has been explored enough by other films. I wasn't a huge fan of the Shakespearian feel (mainly because I am so ignorant of the work), but the acting by the then so young Reeves and Phoenix is phenomenal. That's what kept me watching even though I felt the plot was choppy. I get that this was a low-budget project so I can excuse the flaws. I did want to know more about the peripheral characters but I guess that some of them were so easily discarded or forgotten fits with the subject matter of hustling and survival I am a huge fan of Reeves and the late Phoenix so this was interesting to watch all these years later - and for the first time. You can definitely see the potential in both actors. So heartbreaking that Phoenix didn't get to grow into his talent. This is one of those movies that I will have to watch multiple times to fully appreciate it.
Krystina Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2021
I rented this because my son was asking about River Phoenix. When this young generation asks about our 80-90’s generation, I happily will throw them the knowledge. To me , this is River’s best work on the big screen. If you haven’t seen this or feeling nostalgic… definitely would recommend.
Shane Dane Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2021
Seems longer, really doesn't hold up well. Udo Kier from the yellow BMW has a hit with Swan Song, just watch that.
Watery Down Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2022
A marvellous film : music, acting, costume. Loneliness, though.
sparkle Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2021
Rented it so many times, decided to buy. If you are a Keanu Reeves or River Phoenix fan it's a must see.
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My Own Private Idaho: The cult 90s film that blazed a trail
By Emily Maskell 27th December 2021
Thirty years on, Gus Van Sant's masterpiece still astounds. With their tender performances, its two stars Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix reinvigorated the pinup ideal, writes Emily Maskell.
Reeves and Phoenix give life to these two social-outcast delinquents with an intimate seriousness
Thirty years on, the disarmingly tender camp-fire moment still resonates with ground-breaking emotional force
My Own Private Idaho took its stars to places where Hollywood wouldn't take its heartthrobs
Keanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix were in their 20s when they starred in Gus Van Sant's 1991 cult classic My Own Private Idaho. The two actors were already well on their way to becoming household names when they diverted from Hollywood's well-trodden path to star in Van Sant's third feature: a queer, cult and unprecedented title in both Reeves and Phoenix's filmographies.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of My Own Private Idaho, a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV, and one of Van Sant's most quietly affecting titles. A moving and meditative character study, the film is an expedition of two young hustlers: Michael "Mike" Waters (River Phoenix), a narcoleptic vagabond yearning to feel the warm embrace of home, and the handsomely charming Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), a mayor's son who is wayward and indulging in sex work as he awaits access to his bountiful inheritance. Part arthouse cinema, part unconventional road-trip movie, My Own Private Idaho makes for a pivotal – if not definitive – outlier in the pin-up lineage of Reeves and Phoenix's respective acting careers.
Gus Van Sant's 1991 cult masterpiece is full of sweeping vistas of Idaho (Credit: Alamy)
While My Own Private Idaho journeys from Portland to Idaho to Italy in search of Mike's mother, Van Sant's first stop is to spotlight the Hollywood heartthrobs in a whole new light. The first close-up glance viewers are granted of Phoenix is Mike's expression as he receives fellatio. The explicit moment precedes a barn house falling from the sky and smashing on to the wide, open road. Instantaneously, this teen idol sheds his poster-boy skin, and lurches towards the unconventionality of Van Sant's magisterial vistas of Idaho.
With a liberal attitude towards sex, sex work, and queerness, Van Sant transposed the young gleaming Hollywood stars into his indie cinematic frame. But asking viewers to empathise with the potentially unfavourable queer, social-outcast sex workers was a risk for the actors. "In 1991, even 14 years before Brokeback Mountain, the conventional Hollywood wisdom was that it was career suicide for a leading man to be identified as gay," Gavin Edwards , author of Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind, tells BBC Culture. It is as if these two actors were outrunning the trappings of Hollywood fame by venturing out of the realm of heartthrob typecasting.
The figure of the hustler – not the Richard Gere-type gigolo – serving a male clientele was not just outré, but also unconventional for mainstream 90s audiences. Midway through their journey, Scott and Mike meet one of their past customers, Hans (Udo Kier), at a hotel. After some passes in the lobby, the trio go to Hans's room and have a threesome that is shown with a mirage of quasi-stop-motion tableaux vivants . Van Sant's camera burrows at awkward angles with overlapping limbs and high-contrast shadows.
Van Sant's arthouse cinematic style is another factor that forgoes the traditional depiction of the Hollywood heartthrob. While My Own Private Idaho's DVD cover description notes how it stars "America's hottest young male stars", the film's artistic flair and unorthodox imagery is less focused on flaunting the beauty and charisma of its actors. Instead, it contorts their golden-boy image into directionless, negligent and lawless characters. This departure from leading-man conventionality was incontrovertible, as Vincent Canby , in his 1991 New York Times film review, notes: "The performances, especially by the two young stars, are as surprising as they are sure." Reeves and Phoenix paint Scott and Mike with a genuine authenticity that doesn't poke fun or reduce the characters to hollow comedic opportunities, giving life to these two social-outcast delinquents with an intimate seriousness.
The film inverted the movie pin-up idea that audiences had grown accustomed to in other ways, too. The usual floppy hairstyle and boyish charm of the Hollywood leading man are replaced by a shaggy cut paired with untamed stubble. This grungy aesthetic also blends into Beatrix Aruna Pasztor's costume design. Mike is rarely without his burnt-orange dirt-scuffed jacket. Van Sant implements this gritty-edged style throughout his cinematic world; it is a million miles away from the action hero or suave-gentleman archetype Reeves and Phoenix could have otherwise channelled.
There is a disarming tenderness in the relationship between Scott and the narcoleptic Mike (Credit: Alamy)
"It's certainly the case that there are trends in each era that come to temporarily define male imagery on the screen and that are reflective of cultural changes," Dr Karen McNally, reader in American film, television and cultural history at London Metropolitan University, tells BBC Culture. Many Hollywood movies of the 1980s presented "a hyper-masculinity of the Reagan era. Michael Douglas's entitled white masculinity in Wall Street and Fatal Attraction and the aggressive physicality of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger became emblems of the hyper-male politics and culture of the 1980s." It was this hardened masculinity, one that was unmoving and stoic, sitting at the intersection of mystery and virility, that Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho went on to undermine. From the physical closeness of the two characters to Mike's physical weakness with narcolepsy, the brutish male is non-existent here.
The pair's previous film roles had been accessible and wide in appeal. While Reeves starred in the comedy Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) as the titular Ted, and was a top-billing action hero in Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break (1991), Phoenix was coming into his own, and acting in mainstream blockbusters, including the younger version of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
During the 90s, however, Reeves and Phoenix were couched beside contemporaries who were playing very different roles. The likes of Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Ethan Hawke, Will Smith and Heath Ledger embodied a new, emerging generation of charming, modern leading men. While these actors can be grouped together as 90s heartthrobs, their work differed hugely.
On the more expected side of the heartthrob range, you have an actor like Will Smith, whose blossoming breakthrough matured with his late 90s appearance as the charismatic blockbuster star in Men in Black (1997) and the headlining hero in the action-thriller Enemy of the State (1998). These mainstream macho-saviour roles, once the epitome of the heartthrob's work, were gradually being replaced by sensitive pin-ups: Matt Damon's Oscar-winning turn in Good Will Hunting (1997) allowed him the best of both worlds: to be a mathematic genius, and have the emotional sensitivity to cry. DiCaprio was also leaning towards this portrayal of a more sensitive masculinity, as he recited Shakespearean verse throughout Romeo + Juliet (1996).
Both of these films see rigid masculinity unravelled. It is My Own Private Idaho, however, that is the very epitome of this radical pivot. In lieu of pin-up roles, Reeves and Phoenix – although remaining a part of this heartthrob collective – present the most outright recalibration of the traditional teen-idol template in Van Sant's film with their emotionally sensitive performances. As Dr McNally puts it: "The introspective vulnerability of outsiders displayed by Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho becomes almost a reactive backlash against an earlier brand of masculinity and an attempt to redefine the screen male for the next decade."
Integral to this portrayal of sensitive masculinity is the film's much-lauded camp-fire scene, a pivotal centrepiece and a defining moment of these actors' superlative performances. Camping overnight on their journey to Mike's brother's house, hunting down clues to Mike's mother's whereabouts, Mike and Scott huddle around their flickering camp-fire. Scott lies outstretched with confident ease, while Mike is sitting with his knees coyly to his chest. The homoerotic tension mounts as Van Sant captures the moment of telling your best friend you are in love with them with the same theatrical tension as guns being drawn in a Western.
An object of desire for both Van Sant's lens and Mike's hesitant gaze, Scott mutters: "two guys can't love each other". Mike's whispered response is an agonising confession: "I could love someone even if I wasn't paid for it. I love you and you don't pay me… I really want to kiss you, man." His affections are no longer surreptitious but they are met with a softly spoken rejection. Yet Scott opens his arms for Mike to crawl into, cradling him close as they fall to sleep. The overwhelming and affecting sensitivity of the scene makes for, as Amy Taubin writes in her 2015 essay for The Criterion Channel, "a startlingly naked expression of lovelorn longing".
It is this male vulnerability from both Reeves and Phoenix that is salient in a scene whose career-impacting potential cannot be overstated. Reminiscing about Phoenix, his Stand by Me (1986) co-star Wil Wheaton described the actor as "this raw, emotional open wound all the time. He felt everything. And it's what made him such a wonderful, wonderful actor." In this apotheotic camp-fire scene, Phoenix embalms Mike's sincerity as both eloquent and messy, inarticulate then blunt, hopeful then rejected. It is a poetic tragedy the character doesn't shy away from or violently react to; instead, he brews in the fragility of his admission. Such emotional intelligence allows both 90s vanguards to digress from the more one-dimensional brand of masculinity that had dominated the 90s cinematic love interest.
Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix put in astounding and nuanced performances as the two best friends (Credit: Alamy)
Thirty years on, the disarmingly tender camp-fire moment still resonates with ground-breaking emotional force. When gazing over My Own Private Idaho's flickering flames, one can't help but draw comparison to present-day heartthrob Timothée Chalamet and his teary-eyed fireplace sequence that concludes Luca Guadagnino's Call Me By Your Name (2017).
In Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet sensitively depicts Elio's sun-drenched summer of queer infatuation sparked by the arrival of his father's graduate student. With Chalamet, an emblem of today's magnetic teen idol, the resemblance between generational heartthrobs is strikingly similar. Not only did Chalamet star in Call Me By Your Name when he was the same age as Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho, but his character too comes to terms with an unrequited queer love that burns as fiercely as the flames before him. It seems Chalamet is walking a similar path to predecessors Reeves and Phoenix, or that the 90s stars at least made this path of a heartthrob accessible to a new generation of contemporary actors.
Reflecting on Phoenix's legacy of reinvigorating the Hollywood pin-up, Edwards says: "While [Phoenix] had classic Hollywood leading-man looks and the sort of charisma that made people say he looked like he was glowing from within, he also espoused crunchy values [vega
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