Delayed Reaction: My Own Private Idaho

Premise: Two youths hustle their way across states and countries for assorted adventures.

 

River Phoenix is one of the great Hollywood "What if"s. He already had an Oscar nomination when he died at 23. It's hard to know exactly what he would've done had he not OD'd. He was getting into his music at the time, so he might've turned into a Jared Leto, only swooping in for the occasional movie between tours but still getting critical praise. It's not hard to see his career taking a path like his brother's, only with praise even earlier. I read somewhere that Leonardo DiCaprio basically has the career that River was set for. I think that's a best-case scenario, but from a talent perspective, that's entirely plausible. He's no doubt the biggest gone-too-early star I can think of until Heath Ledger.

 

My Own Private Idaho is a nice peak into where things were going for him. He and Keanu Reeves used their fame to help Gus Van Sant get this made. Both could've done much bigger projects, but they chose this episodic indie road trip movie that explores queer themes. I'll admit that this is a movie that I appreciate more than I like. Phoenix is great in the lead role. I don't think Reeves is that far behind. Reeves is a good actor but not a versatile actor and this pushes against his comfort zone. The paraphrased Shakespearean dialogue helps give the whole movie a surreal feeling. Much of the film is shot to keep the audience a little unbalanced. Like, there's probably a read of this movie that it's all a series of narcoleptic dreams of Phoenix's. I appreciate that the movie doesn't stick too much to a plot. It's more about the character relationships, and each chapter feels more representative than biographical.

 

I've always been a little hesitant to get into van Sant's more experimental movies like Elephant or Last Days. Or there's the Psycho experiment. I really like Good Will Hunting, and I'd like Milk a lot more if I didn't have a Sean Penn bugaboo. From what I remember, To Die For is pretty good too. And yes, I realize that I'm only naming movies in which he was the director and nothing else. Granted, even those include Finding Forrester and Promised Land. My Own Private Idaho is my first foray into him as a multi-hyphenate. I thought the movie relied a bit much on the style to keep it interesting. It's otherwise a little inert. I reserve the right to change my opinion once I get used to more van Sant movies that he wrote too, but this didn't do much for me.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend