375 – My Own Private Idaho

What this episode covers

We’re finally pulling one of our most passionate entries to our 100 Snubs series, Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho. Adapted loosely from multiple Shakespeare plays (particularly both Henry IVs), the film follows an epileptic young sex worker named Mike (River Phoenix) as he drifts the globe with his loyal cohort Scott (Keanu Reeves). Van Sant was post-Drugstore Cowboy ascendant when the film arrived, but it’s the Venice Film Festival-anointed performance by Phoenix that got the most attention and helps the film live in bittersweet infamy. This episode, we talk about Phoenix’s stunning performance and his Oscar nomination for Running on Empty before his tragic death. We also discuss the highlights of Van Sant’s filmography, the unfair ridicule that greeted Reeves’ Bram Stoker’s Dracula performance, and where we would place the film in the 1991 Adapted Screenplay race. Topics also include the 1991 Venice Film Festival, nipple pulling, and New Queer Cinema.