Very loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV part one, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO incorporates great chunks of the Bard's play into its script--and the result is an film with exceptional performances but an experimental edge that doesn't really come off.
Keanu Reeves, the son of a wealthy and influential man, has become a street hustler largely in order to infuriate his father--and hence director Gus Van Sant's recourse to HENRY IV. His closest friend on the street is River Phoenix, a narcoleptic prostitute who dreams of finding security by reconnecting with his trailer-park-trash mother. Together the two go off on a road-trip spree complete with a Falstaff figure and interspersed with takes on other teenage boys plying their bodies on the street in order to survive.
Reeves gives one of his better performances here and the supporting cast is very good, but the heart of the film belongs to River Phoenix, who works miracles with the pathos of his role. It is largely due to his performance that the film is able to hold our attention. But the adoption of Shakespeare's lines, particularly since the film skips in and out of them from portion to portion of the film, seems extremely out of place, and the film as a whole never seems to find a cohesive visual style. Worse still, one is never entirely certain what point Van Sant is trying to make, and the uncertainty doesn't seem intentional on the director's part. Final thought: interesting, but slightly pretentious and and not entirely successful.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Keanu Reeves, the son of a wealthy and influential man, has become a street hustler largely in order to infuriate his father--and hence director Gus Van Sant's recourse to HENRY IV. His closest friend on the street is River Phoenix, a narcoleptic prostitute who dreams of finding security by reconnecting with his trailer-park-trash mother. Together the two go off on a road-trip spree complete with a Falstaff figure and interspersed with takes on other teenage boys plying their bodies on the street in order to survive.
Reeves gives one of his better performances here and the supporting cast is very good, but the heart of the film belongs to River Phoenix, who works miracles with the pathos of his role. It is largely due to his performance that the film is able to hold our attention. But the adoption of Shakespeare's lines, particularly since the film skips in and out of them from portion to portion of the film, seems extremely out of place, and the film as a whole never seems to find a cohesive visual style. Worse still, one is never entirely certain what point Van Sant is trying to make, and the uncertainty doesn't seem intentional on the director's part. Final thought: interesting, but slightly pretentious and and not entirely successful.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer