My Own Private Idaho

One of the last Van Sant films I still needed to see. It's a pretty nice drama that has slivers of references to his best work, but once the stage is set and the characters are introduced, I found the film itself a little too meandering. That's not bad in and by itself, but neither the characters nor the vibe fully grabbed me.

Mike is a narcoleptic prostitute who roams the streets. One day he meets Scott, a rich kid who loves to rebel against his family by doing the same thing as Mike. They get along rather well and start hanging out together. When Scott hears that Mike is looking for his mom, he decides to join him on his journey.

Phoenix and Reeves make a nice duo, there are some interesting side characters and Van Sant delivers a nice mix of narrative and mood cinema. I wasn't all that interested in Mike's quest to find his mom though, and once the film turned more into a road movie the film slowly lost me. Not bad though, but far from Van Sant's best work.