My Own Private Idaho is a 1991 American independent adventure drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V, and starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. The story follows two friends, Mike and Scott, as they embark on a journey of personal discovery that takes them to Mike's hometown in Idaho and then to Italy in search of Mike's mother.
Mike (River Phoenix), a gay street hustler, is standing alone on a deserted stretch of highway somewhere in Idaho. He starts talking to himself and notices that the road looks “like someone’s face, like a fucked-up face.” He experiences a narcoleptic episode and dreams of his mother comforting him as he replays home movies of his childhood in his mind.
Later, after being fellated by a client in Seattle, Washington, Mike returns to his favorite spots to pick up potential clients. He is picked up by a wealthy older woman (Grace Zabriskie) who takes him to her mansion where he meets two fellow hustlers also hired by the woman. One of them is Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), Mike’s best friend, and the other is Gary (Rodney Harvey). While preparing to have sex with the woman, Mike experiences another narcoleptic fit and awakens the next day with Scott in Portland, Oregon.
Mike and Scott are soon reunited with Bob Pigeon (William Richert), a middle-aged mentor to a gang of street kids and hustlers who live in an abandoned apartment building. Scott, the son of the mayor of Portland, admits to Bob in private that when he turns 21, he will inherit his father’s fortune and retire from street hustling. Mike yearns to find his mother, and he and Scott leave Portland for Idaho to visit Mike’s older brother Richard (James Russo), who lives in a run-down trailer. Along this journey Mike confesses that he is in love with Scott. Richard tries to tell Mike who his real father is, but Mike says that he knows it is Richard. Richard tells Mike that their mother works as a hotel maid; when Mike and Scott visit the hotel, they find she has gone to Italy in search of her own family.
Clasificación [ CM DVD 00509] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)