Why so much hype?

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Such an excellent film, River giving an incredible performance and Keanu showing he is a truly well rounded talent. The bleakness of the road is a wonderful representation of life itself and the campfire scene is frankly heartbreaking.The improvisation allowed by the director allows the film to really be shaped by the actors and their vision of the movie and characters dwelling inside it, and makes for a wonderful experience cultivated from all of the cast and crew.Will be watching again soon!

Mike (River Phoenix) is a hustler prostitute who suffers from narcolepsy. He has dreams of being comforted by his mother. Mike's best friend is fellow hustler Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves). Scott is rebelling against his father who was the wealthy mayor of Portland. He expects to inherit money from him at 21. Mike is obsessed with finding his mother and is in love with Scott. Their journey would take them from Portland to Idaho to Italy and then back to Portland.Gus Van Sant creates a meandering journey of two lost souls. Reeves and Phoenix are doing terrific work. It gets surreal at times. I actually want a greater visual surrealism to his dreams although the indie budget would prevent that. I'm not so much in love with the Shakespearian influence on the dialog with Bob. It takes me out of the gritty street world. It's an up and down movie for me. I find parts of it fascinating but others too flighty.

Loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V, 'My Own Private Idaho' is A Difficult, yet Absorbing Story! Its a hard-hitting tale about human-relations, that has been Directed most effectively by Gus Van Sant. Also, the performances are top-notch!'My Own Private Idaho' Synopsis: Two best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way. 'My Own Private Idaho' deals with human tragedy & misguidedness. Its central protagonists, haunted by their childhoods, grow up as shallow & angry individuals. And when they embark on a journey together, much after developing a bond, even their friendship, sadly begins to decline. Its a heart-breaking, unsettling story of two lost souls in search of a better life. Gus Van Sant has made terrific cinema with 'My Own Private Idhao'. Although its not flawless, thanks to its dull pacing, but other-wise, it works wonders. The Maverick Filmmaker creates a bleak world, without any hesitations whatsoever. His Direction & Screenplay, both, are competent. Performance-Wise: The Late/Great River Phoenix & Keanu Reeves deliver amazing performances. Phoenix, especially, delivers a searing performance as a troubled soul. He embodies the part & stands out from start to end. Reeves is a revelation. He enacts a rather difficult part, with rare ease & understanding. A Special Mention for William Richert. He's fantastic in a supporting role. On the whole, 'My Own Private Idaho' is a strong effort.

My Own Private Idaho is a bittersweet tale of two rent boys in the Pacific coast are and the contrasts between them. With the help of the greatest writer in the English language ever, William Shakespeare, Gus Van Sant draws two great characterizations in the characters realized by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.You couldn't find two more opposite types in the world. River is a street kid through and through. Even the circumstances of his birth are a tragedy that I won't reveal. His mother leaves him as a youngster and he can't get over it and go on. He was raised by an older brother in the sparsely populated 'potato state' as he calls Idaho and the and the family dynamic was strained. He's a gay kid in an area where that could be deadly so he takes off for the fleshpots of Seattle and Portland where his youth and beauty will bring him some cash. He has no skills or education to support himself any other way. Sad, but the only hope this kid has of a decent life is to get taken up by some older sugar daddy who might just treat him to an education of some kind. That is if he can decide to just get over a bad home life and lack of a normal family. I've known gay kids who came from as lousy a background as River Phoenix and who never could get over it. River has developed an interesting defense mechanism and a psychologist would have field day with him if he got him on the coach. When the stress gets too much for him he just has a seizure like an epileptic, but in fact all he does is fall asleep. It's called narcilepsy, but he's vulnerable in that state as the film shows as well. River just tunes out the world. Keanu comes from a different world, his father is the Mayor of Portland, but he's dying and hopes to have his son take over the family political dynasty. But Tom Troupe is bitterly disappointed in his 'effeminate' son who like Prince Hal likes to hang out with lowlifes and street trash. Keanu's Falstaff is William Richert, a gay older man of a Falstaffian bloated belly who likes the young stuff and in his world probably treats them well. Gus Van Sant was quite imaginative in seeing the gay subtext that could be drawn from Prince Hal and Falstaff. Indeed Keanu says that Richert is closer to him than his real father. But he also says that he's planning to work a change in him when he comes into his own. And he says it in dialog taken from Shakespeare's Henry IV Parts one and two.The most touching scene is with River and Keanu out in the country at a fire where River basically confesses his love for him. It's love to be sure, but River also sees in Keanu a figure who has confidence and self assurance and those are the qualities that draws him to Reeves. What Phoenix misreads is that self confidence is really a safety net that he knows he has and at the appropriate time uses. Although he's gay for pay as he states, he still allows River to have sex with him. I suspect that Gus Van Sant from his own background knows full well that gay for pay is not always 100% absolute.Reeves goes on to his destiny for which if you know your Shakespeare know what that is. Phoenix's destiny is less clear, more than likely an oblivion that a lot of those kids go to. As a fantasy I'd like to think that as Reeves denies himself, closets himself as he moves on in life, that an older River comes back to remind him of his roots.We all know of the tragedy of River Phoenix who died way too young just like a lot of street kids do ironically. There is a second tragedy in the My Own Private Idaho. Rodney Harvey who played one of River and Keanu's street peers also died way too young in similar circumstances to Phoenix. Not only does Van Sant give us an excellent two person character study, but his other character with less dialog than the leads also are fully formed characters which is the mark that many including me say indicates a great film. My Own Private Idaho is a troubling picture, but a realistic one of the underside of gay life that we cannot ignore.