Review of My Own Private Idaho

I had heard of this movie for a while now (since it came out I guess) and never had the chance to watch it. Finally, I got my hand on a DVD and was stunned: how could I have missed this before? I would classify this movie in the Indie genre (if that applied to movies), as its style is unusual. Essentially, the dialogs may go into long theatrical speech (literally) rather than a fluent every day life dialog. You get annoyed at times (did not expect a Shakespeare play but a movie) as some of the scenes within this style are not working out (imagine Keanu Reeves in a play - nope! doesn't work for me either). But if you can pass beyond this problem, you will find a gem. Indeed, the characters! What a treat. River Phoenix (Mike) performance is simply breathtaking and inspired: you immediately feel the character of "Mike", the abandoned and confused child not only reverting to hustling for money but striving for belonging, acceptance and love going in life with the dream and memory of his mother. His friendship with Scott (Keanu Reeves) will bring them into a journey where emotions and classics are all covered: lightness and energy of youth, rebellion of the privileged, loneliness, burning passions, struggles and survival, loss, desire. On second thought, perhaps it works well as a Shakespearian play (yes, I know it was intended) but not only because the dialogs are like so but due to the in-depth drama of this movie the breadth of emotion it covers. The story line is flooded with the view of Mike (also narcoleptic) and appears at times as a dream. As a result, to me, the whole movie is simply a great piece, poetic, breath taking and emotional: you stay watching through the theater scenes wanting to know what's next, you get hooked to the artistic aspects of the movie (music is often blending and you find yourself noticing that many details have significance) and you feel for the characters at a deep and intense level as if the topics treated are archetypal. For sure, you will remember this movie whether you were thrown off by it, liked it or loved it.