MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (1991)

Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves) are hustlers working their way around Portland trying to make ends meet, who are also best friends.  Together they hit the road to Idaho AND Italy on a journey of self-discovery while Mike tries to find his mother whom he hasn't seen in years.  This stirring comedy/drama road movie was written and directed by Oscar-nominee Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk, Drugstore Cowboy) early in his career and was not only considered a breakthrough for independent cinema at the time of its release, but also for LGBT cinema.  It also now remembered for containing what MIGHT be the defining performance for the late, great Phoenix who would die tragically just a couple of years later.  Let's hit the road and always remember to....Have A Nice Day. :) 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO - 1991

Directed by Gus Van Sant

Starring River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo, William Richert, Rodney Harvey, Chiara Caselli, Michael Parker, Jessica Makinson, Flea, Grace Zabriskie, Tom Troupe, and Udo Kier 

Genre: Road Movie (Audio clip)

Even though I have always been a fan of Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, Good Will Hunting, Milk) from the get-go, I'm embarrassed to admit that I had never actually seen THIS one before....and it's crazy-good featuring two absolutely stellar performances from the late, great River Phoenix AND Keanu Reeves. 🫤 Overall it's definitely more River's movie playing Mike, a street hustler living in Portland who embarks on a somewhat aimless journey to Idaho AND Italy with his fellow hustler/best friend Scott (Reeves). Mike apparently suffers from almost debilitating narcolepsy....causing him to fall asleep at less-than-ideal times. 

On paper (Van Sant also wrote the award-winning screenplay), it's ALMOST the definition of a "showy" performance - this character is loaded with tics, quirks, dramatic energy shifts, and even a strong predilection for quoting Henry V. (Though to be fair, the screenplay also lifts several chunks of Shakespeare's play in several scenes for ALL characters on-screen, mainly around the streets of Portland) Though as played by Phoenix, he really walks that tightrope of displaying this guy's rough edges while still making him likeable and sympathetic. 

Yeah it goes without saying just how prematurely River left us (he was only 20 when filming this, only three years before tragically dying of an overdose) and how he was just SUCH a unique talent. 😥 I had always heard this noted among his best performances and it's certainly up there - it KIND of reminded me of young Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy) or young Robert Downey Jr (Less Than Zero) but unlike both of those excellent performances, the heartbreak is just less obvious on his face....and that's by design. 

Of course things expectedly DO take a darker turn in the third act but honestly not in the way I expected. This is mostly a plotless movie, it's often structured as a road movie told in vignettes. Regardless, Van Sant always keeps it interesting, even taking some seemingly fantastical detours at points including ONE early standout sequence where several of our main characters are each the cover subject on different raunchy magazines....conversing with each other while up on a magazine rack. 😆 You either go with it or you don't....

With help from co-DP's John Campbell and Eric Edwards, Van Sant also shoots the hell out of this with several gorgeous vistas shot mostly around Oregon, including some convincing work displaying it as the Italian countryside. The "sex scenes" are also shot with a very novel approach, seemingly almost graphic but actually chaste as we just see a series of still shots of characters in naked embrace - it gives them a more performative quality which certainly tracks with our two lead characters both being sex workers. 

I'm not 100% sure how to exactly read the ending but it's so beautifully shot and logically makes sense for the characters involved that it pretty much works - I just need to think on it, probably rewatch it? 🤔 

Best Needle-drop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Overall this is a pretty quiet movie though there is a nice eclectic mix of country, punk, pop, and classical which plays throughout – the soundtrack includes songs from Madonna, Elton John, Bill Stafford, AND….. even though they were formed in London in ’82, they were considered one of THE premiere Celtic Punk/Folk bands of this era….and any era really.  I’m referring to The Pogues, lead by the late, great LEGENDARY Shane McGowan they were just on the forefront of a uniquely Irish sound – filled with fiddles and the Irish VERSION of the bagpipe, the Uilleann pipe – which was HUGELY influential to several more commercial artists which would follow in their wake including Sinead O’Connor, The Cranberries, and The Dropkick Murphy’s.  The song we hear comes at the very end and it helps to punctuate which is essence a pretty sad ending that nonetheless features a title card stating “Have A Nice Day” which kicks off this track and the brightly primary colored end credits.  It comes from their second album “Rum Sodomy & the Lash” released in ’85…..this is the melancholy yet catchy, “The Old Main Drag.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film): 

As dazzled as I was by Phoenix, the bigger "surprise" was seeing Keanu deliver such a complex performance with seemingly little strain to it. 🤗 And that might sound backhanded to say but it's boggles the mind how this came out the same year as Bill & Ted 2 and Point Break...clearly more his lane as an actor, two signature performances for him too. 😆 What makes this actually even more surprising is that he did this JUST before Bram Stoker's Dracula and Much Ado About Nothing, two performances where he pretty much missed the mark with more literary dialogue, ESPECIALLY the Shakespeare verses in 'Much Ado. 😲 (It certainly didn't help that he was trying to portray Denzel's brother in the latter.) 

Considering just how good he was in other disaffected youth roles around this time like River's Edge and even Parenthood, it’s now even more clear that Keanu could always excel best when playing more contemporary characters....even when he's quoting Shakespeare here too. ;) His Scott is a free-spirited trust-fund baby (I believe he's the ailing mayor's son) apparently biding his time until he receives his inheritance....he clearly cares for Mike and is reliably always on the lookout for him, resulting in several touching scenes of them together. River and Keanu play off of each other so naturally, it's unfortunate that they had never collaborated before....

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

This one MIGHT seem obvious as if either of these actors had received Oscar nominations, this surely would have been the clips played at the awards ceremony.  This occurs about forty minutes into the film as they are on the first of several road-trips and just sitting by a fire off the road.  While sitting quiety winding down for the night, River’s Mike takes it upon himself to confess his love for Scott….(Audio clip) 

What’s truly great about these scene is that it remains emotionally potent while still being quite understated….it never gets melodramatic, there’s no yelling nor crying.  It’s abundantly clear from the get-go that Scott just DOES not feel the same way for Mike though he still loves him….and it ends with a touching embrace between the two of them.  Keanu is great here though it’s even more of an acting showcase for Phoenix who just THE embodiment of vulnerability with regards to how he looks and sounds in this moment. (Audio clip)  

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Back to Mike played by Phoenix….this isn't someone who's continuously self-destructive - he's just been dealt a shitty hand. 😟 Considering this was the early '90's, he's seemingly more level-headed about being poor, his sexuality, the risks he's always facing. He's SURVIVING and often making the best of whatever community he has surrounded himself with....but he's still yearns to be more than friends with Scott, and to reunite with his mother. (Whom he's searching for) It's a beautiful performance and he even sells the narcolepsy as an organic part of that - it's refreshingly never used as a dramatic crutch from an acting or writing standpoint.  For delivering what MIGHT be his greatest performance overall, River Phoenix is the MVP. 

Final Rating: 4.4 stars out of 5

Happy 35th Anniversary to just a fantastic character study which definitely remains among Van Sant's best and…..Happy Pride Month 2026!

Streaming on Prime Video

And that ends another MINIONS OF THE MOON review!