This has always reminded me of Midnight Cowboy to a degree. The stories are slightly similar - two hustler guys trying to get along while essentially homeless.
Like I said, it's a very slight similarity, but worth discussing anyway...
So which is better - this or Midnight Cowboy ?
I think that Midnight Cowboy is better: better acting, better story, and more heartbreaking characters. But, I really like My Own Private Idaho, too. River Phoenix's acting is great, even Keanu is good. What I like about both is how they handle portraying male prostitutes or prostitution in general. It's not sensationalized and it's not making any sort of statement on it. It's just what the characters do, even though we get a sense of why each character does it. And both films are so much more that the fact that they're prostitutes.
I definitely think there's quite a few similarities between the two films, too. The obvious is the prostitution and homelessness but I see Joe Buck and Rizzo (Ratso) in Scott and Mike as well. Plus the traveling, the isolation, the ailments of Ratso and Mike, the separation of Joe and Rizzo, and Scott and Mike, the love stories in both films (buddy love and romantic love)...I could go on.
Yes - you see the same similarities I had in mind. Once the idea of a similarity popped in my mind I started to see more and more just like you. This makes me wonder if River and Keanu saw it as well.
As far as the quality of acting goes, I would say River gives the best performance of all four of the main leads among the two movies. That's just imho.
I just thought of another, too. The flashbacks and sort of "worship" of Mike's mother and Joe Buck's grandmother. And yeah, River Phoenix is excellent in this movie.
shareThere have always been similarities...
Obviously, COWBOY is the more polished film, while MOPI is more avante garde and uneven.
What's odd is that both films are uncannily good cinematic portals to their respective eras: few movies feel more legitimately like the cusp of the '60s/70s than COWBOY (with its haunting urban street montages, etc.) and few movies feel more authentically like the cusp of the '80s/90s than MOPI.
So perhaps male prostitutes are all that's required.
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Non-sequiturs are delicious.
Hmmm...good point about the cusp of the decades timing.And I think you're right - it does apply.
shareIt's difficult not to think that Van Sant wasn't more than a little influenced by Schlesinger's earlier film. There are a lot of similarities, as others have noted above. I personally find Midnight Cowboy's story more compelling, but Idaho does have its moments, such as the extended homage to Chimes at Midnight.
shareIf IDAHO didn't hand the Shakespeareanesque dialogue to Keanu (who can't handle it) and the tenement house and robbery scenes had been less muddled, the rest of the film would've worked better than it did.
Both films are organic and hypnotic, with IDAHO the messier picture.
COWBOY, obviously, was far more consistent.
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The most profound of sin is tragedy unremembered.
Wow, that's tough. I love both of them for different reasons...
I suppose Midnight Cowboy had a more haunting quality to it, since there is no resolution for Buck. The scene on the bus where everyone stares at him in silence is just utterly heartbreaking. What's Buck going to do now? He has shown that he's capable of settling down and living an ordinary life, but his character carries this constant sense of loneliness about him.
My Own Private Idaho on the other hand, does a great job of portraying the alienation of living with a disability. He also happens to be a homosexual which is another thing that pushes him more and more towards the peripheral of society.
At the end of the film, his father ends up picking him up, but that's still in the back of your head.
I would say My Own Private Idaho has more of a sense of realism about it. It's grittier. But I would say Midnight Cowboy is more emotionally devastating. I also think Midnight Cowboy is more structured, some of the scenes with the Shakespearean dialogue felt a bit off. I wonder if there was a purpose to it.
Nice post and better responses!
Think of Midnight Cowboy when Mike (Phoenix) ask Walt (Robert Lee Pitchlynn) for ten more bucks at the beginning of the movie. Phoenix reminds me Joe Buck's first "client", the lady in white (Silvia Miles) when she asks him 20 bucks for the cab; Walt reminds me the religious guy (John McGiver) Joe Bucks visits.
But had, I repeat, had to pause the movie and came here to find if someone had also thought that My Own was more than similar to Midnight when Scott (Reeves) has Mike layd over his lap at the fountain... 'a la Ratso dying over Joe Buck at the bus.
Think of My Own as a Van Sant own private version and, why not, tribute to Midnight.
Love Love midnight cowboy but my own private Idaho has a special place in my heart, since i was the first art house indie film that i could watch over and over. Now i just love indie films.
I hated Jaws, it had too much shark, and dont get me started about King Kong, waaay too much gorilla
Damn never thought about that..... I'll go with Midnight Cowboy but it is painful to make the choice.
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