My Own Private Idaho

Gus Van Sant's cult classic is at once moving, innovative, shocking, amusing and pretentious, making My Own Private Idaho an exciting film rather than a completely suc... more >

Gus Van Sant's cult classic is at once moving, innovative, shocking, amusing and pretentious, making My Own Private Idaho an exciting film rather than a completely successful one. In its tale of a narcoleptic gay hustler Mike (River Phoenix), who falls in love with a straight rent boy (Keanu Reeves, whose typically wooden turn adds to the unreal ambiance), Van Sant throws in audacious moments (the cover photos of a selection of top shelf magazines start arguing amongst themselves), ambitious if perplexing interludes (the narrative suddenly lapses into lengthy dialogues from Henry IV Part I, and foolhardy flashes of self-indulgence (the last words of the film consist of a cue card wishing that the audience has a nice day). Without this film, the River Phoenix myth would never have existed; he is riveting in a difficult part, playing Mike with an obstinate vulnerability, and the massive potential he displays here renders his early death just two years after this film all the more poignant. < less

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DVD Extras

• Two discs
• The Making Of My Own Private Idaho
• Kings of the Road: - Film critic Paul Arthur discusses Gus Van Sant's adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV and Orson Welle's Falstaff in the film
• Conversations with Gus Van Sant and Todd Haynes, Laurie Parker and Rain Phoenix and JT Leroy and Jonathan Caouette
• Deleted scenes.

Film Details

Cast

Keanu Reeves, River Phoenix

Technical Details