Gus Van Sant tends to make very strange, surreal yet extremely realistic movies like Elephant, Drugstore Cowboy, To Die For, Gerry and so on. Elephant has it's own flaws, but I think it's the magnum opus of these realistic stories of surrealism, but this is definitely a contender. This is probably one of the more surreal of the films, as it ventures into magical realism, dreams, drug trips, etc. Heartthrobs, River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves lead the show as Mike and Scott. Scott Favor comes from a wealthy upbringing, but decides to sleep on rooftops, streets and have sex for money. He doesn't need to, he wants to. On the other side of things is Mike, a narcoleptic, homeless bastard. These two have an unexpected friendship as they try and search for Mike's mother, steal from a man named Bob, drive through America on a moped. The film is filled with paintings of shots. It's an odyssey. Most filmmakers are unable to achieve such development of character in 4 hours, but this movie does it under two.10/10Gus Van Sant is a genius and is wasting his time with projects like The Sea of Trees, Promised Land etc.

I don't know why James Franco would consider this a favorite movie of his? It is rubbish!The storyline was hard to follow and too fast for me to understand what is going on with the characters Mike and Scott. It was just all over the place, all I know is River Phoneix's character had necropsy and a poor hustler who just thinks of his mother in his dreams. With Keanu Reeve's character, he just appears as a presidents son and hangs out with the homeless bucks! I wish I could have fallen the storyline and more of the characters better because I would be happy to understand what really is happening. Glad I only saw 30 minutes of the movie then wasting my time watching an hour of it!

This is one of those movies that starts off promising but as it progresses it just gets weird and bizarre but just not in a good way. It had my interest at first with the introduction of the characters but after the introductions and a bit of bonding between two characters it just got boring. I think the part I lost interest is when River Phoenix's character is visiting his dad in a trailer. It's basically a depressing and bitter road movie about two gay or bisexual male prostitutes on a road trip. Because they both have mother and father issues that they have to deal with. I give River Phoenix's character some sympathy but not so much for Keanu's character. Maybe because one is more in a rut than the other. And none of the characters are likable in this movie, which is fine since when it comes to the tragedy. It didn't get all that depressing. But the relationship and bonding between these two characters played by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves seemed authentic. Maybe because they were friends in real life. It's somewhat of a artsy flick and it's watchable but just didn't really entertain me or got my interest. It got weird and some of the characters gets pretty darn bizarre. But I guess it somewhat adds to the realism to a degree. This is the first movie I seen with River Phoenix and he basically owns this character. But maybe that is cause there is quite a lot of himself in this character. And Keanu...Well I never found the guy to be a brilliant actor. But he is somewhat versatile and fits right in usually with the role he is in. Overall, this movie through me off guard but not really in a good way. Plus I couldn't connect with any of the characters at all, although that may seem a bit conceited on my part.4.6/10

Every time I see this film, I forget how incredibly amazing it is. Yes I'm a huge fan of of the late, great, River Phoenix, think Keanu Reeves is highly underrated, and love Shakespeare. This is a modern adaptation to Henry IV, based around two hustlers Mike and Scott (River and Keanu) and their relationship, with the added wrinkle that Mikey is a narcoleptic and trying to find his long lost mother. Scott is the rich boy who turns his back on his street life when his inheritance kicks in. River's performance is astounding, tender and powerful, and it's a brave pair of best friends (in real life) that take on roles like this but the affection between them is palpable and somehow makes the story of unrequited love even more heartbreaking.The Shakespeare gets confusing if you aren't familiar, as it washes in and out, and if you haven't seen Gus Van Sant before you might not quite follow the surreal imagery and the trippy nature of the film. It's arty, weird and dark, but has a lot of humour and sensitivity, despite being a little bawdy in places, however for all it's adult subject matter it's quite discrete! River and Keanu are astounding in this, and it's a film that River should be remembered for as the bright star he was.