My Own Private Idaho
Gus Van Sant, 1991.
This movie was fantastic. It’s half a gritty heartfelt independent film, the type that was popular in the early nineties, and half an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V, modernized and about gay hookers. If that’s not an awesomely crazy pitch, then I don’t know what is.
Keanu Reeves was fine in his role, but suffered by comparison to River Phoenix, who was absolutely incredible. It’s one of those roles where it’s nearly impossible to tell how much is really the actor, and how much is just performance. Gus Van Sant’s script was great, the most interesting thing being the dialogue. Half of it was realistic, simple, and touching, and the other half was a weird modernization of Shakespeare’s words, updating all the worlds and references but keeping the tone and style. I can’t say I’ve heard any dialogue quite like that before. Van Sant is a fantastic director, whether you like what he choses to do or not (I liked what I’ve seen of Gerry, but I know I’m in a large minority on that one), and the visuals were fantastic. The tone was consistent and appropriate, and he even managed to take some cues from Godard which wins points with me (The sex scenes were portrayed in the same way as the fights in Alphaville, and the dances in A Woman is a Woman).
Far more interesting than your average Shakespeare adaptation, and a great deal more ambitious than your average indie film, and River Phoenix gives one hell of a performance. Definitely worth watching.
