A "Private" Screening

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

(directed by Gus Van Sant)

Of all the young actors in Hollywood in the early 90s, perhaps the most diverse and talented was River Phoenix, who in movies like Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho showed a vulnerability and dedication to his craft that is rare to witness. While Gus Van Sant has gone on to do good work since Idaho, (To Die For, Elephant), nothing has quite matched up to it--a bizarre, moving and wholly original story about two male hustlers on the road to who-knows-where. William Richert, who played the larger than life Falstaffian mentor Bob Pigeon in the film, dropped by the Loft in Tucson to discuss working on Idaho, as well as his other directorial efforts, such as the Jeff Bridges cult movie Winter Kills and A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, also starring Phoenix. Richert also played an unreleased song that Phoenix originally wrote for Reardon that the producers didn't want in the film.

Seeing Idaho on the big screen, I was struck by two things: first, what a great movie it is; second, how in the hell did it ever get made? This was a question that Richert addressed at the screening, a question that he himself didn't know how to answer. It seems even less likely nowadays that two major stars would commit to a movie rooted in homosexuality that's also loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry the IV parts I and II, as well as Henry the V.

River Phoenix, in the role of Mike Waters, gives a performance so subtle and incredible that you can't help but feel robbed of his gift as an actor (Phoenix died in 1993 at the age of 23) . While Keanu Reeves is generally thought to be on the other spectrum of acting talent, his peformance as the rich nitwit Scott Favor really isn't half bad.

Van Sant went on to do the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, as well as remake Psycho and the Sean Connery stinker Finding Forrester. He's since gone back to more small scale projects like Idaho, which I sincerely hope he sticks to, as it's clearly his strong suit.