Last week at Kenworthy, they showcased My Own Private Idaho (1991). My Own Private Idaho, starring the late River Phoenix and a very young Keanu Reeves, is a truly unique movie, as I have never seen anything quite like it. The film’s director Gus Van Sant, known for also directing Good Will Hunting, took a very unconventional approach to the plot and to the conclusion of the film.
The plot of My Own Private Idaho follows a young street hustler named Mike, played by River Phoenix, as he embarks on a journey to find his mother. Mike suffers from narcolepsy, and falls asleep as a response to stressful situations, and it gets him into trouble a lot. His best friend is Scott, who is the son of the mayor of Portland who also takes part in street hustling with Mike. Early in the movie, Scott reveals that as soon as he turns 21, he is going to stop street hustling, and inherit his father’s fortune. Scott decides to go with Mike on his journey to find Mike’s mother, and travels with him to Mike’s hometown in Idaho, frequently helping Mike with his narcoleptic episodes. Mike confesses to Scott that he is in love with him, but Scott kindly brushes it off.
The boys learn that Mike’s mother used to work at a hotel in Boise, and when the boys get there, it is revealed that Mike’s mother had moved to Italy to reconnect with her old family. The boys then prostitute themselves to an older man and scam him by selling him a stolen motorcycle, and then use the money to travel to Rome, Italy. While in Italy, the boys discover that Mike’s mother had moved back to the states and was no longer in Italy. Scott meets an Italian girl and falls in love with her. He leaves Mike in Italy and returns to the states. Mike uses the last of his money to return to the states on his own.
Back in the states, Scott inherits his father’s fortune and abandons the street hustling lifestyle. When the leader of the Portland Street Hustlers, Bob Pigeon, hears of this, he confronts Scott in public about it. Scott rejects Bob publicly, and Bob dies of a broken heart the same night. In the following days, Scott is sitting at his father’s funeral, while across the graveyard, the street hustlers are giving Bob his own funeral.
The film ends with Mike back in Idaho, waiting on the side of the road, when he has a narcoleptic episode and falls asleep. We watch that as he is asleep, two men in a truck stop beside him and rob him, then drive off. Shortly after, another car pulls up beside the sleeping Mike and the good Samaritan picks him up from the side of the road. Then the film ends.
The film is loosely based off Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V and was considered a landmark film in New Queer Cinema and is considered a cult- classic among LGBTQA audiences. The performances from both River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves are amazing, and they really carry the movie. The worst part about the movie is the ending, because there really isn’t a conclusion and the film leaves many loose ends open. My Own Private Idaho is a very artistic and unique movie, and a staple in LGBTQA independent filmmaking. It is a movie you should watch at least once.
Ben DeWitt can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter @BenDeWitt321