Review of My Own Private Idaho (1991) by Lucas Y — 24 Mar 2009

My Own Private Idaho grows in retrospect every time you watch it. I watched it for the 3rd time in the last 6 months yesterday and still wasn't able to turn my head once. This movie is simply a masterpiece. Gus Vant Sant's screenplay and wonderful collection of shots make this an unforgetable work of art. You can't say enough about River Phoenix's performance. It's one of the greatest ever, if not the best performance ever by an actor. The opening and final scene on the isolated road in Idaho make me shiver. Everything in between is just brought to life so well through cinematography, intriguing dialog, depression and redemption. This is Van Sants best film hands down and a bittersweet farewell to who would have been one of the greatest actors ever. Plus I see a lot of similarities to Midnight Cowboy in this film which is also a huge plus in my book.

*Fun Fact* Before River Phoenix died, he and Van Sant were working on a screenplay based on the life of Andy Warhol and Phoenix was going to play him. After Phoenix died, Van Sant said the film would never be made because ONLY Phoenix could have played Warhol.