It's difficult to explain what makes
My Own Private Idaho so enjoyable. Even now, having just watched it last night, I am having trouble piecing together any significant reason for what makes it work. Instead I remember very clearly individual aspects of the movie, bits and pieces throughout. So let's talk bits and pieces.
There's this guy. One of Mike's regular customers, who is obsessively clean and has
interesting fetishes stemming from that. Also he dances as he gets turned on. We could get into the way sex is depicted in this movie more, there's certainly no shortage of kinks and other issues to discuss, but I'm more interested in just how much fun scenes likes this are approached with. It's silly and stylish, and there's no great reason why we're shown this over a more typical prostitution encounter, but it's certainly more entertaining.
The above dance sequence was a highlight for it's absurdity and quirk, but then it's outdone by this guy.
Oh, Hans, what can I say about Hans? He's delightful in every scene, and his "performance" here is just amazing. It's absolutely pointless, but one of my favorite scenes in the movie. In a following scene, Mike and Scott are checking in at the airport and very suddenly break into and out of this really phony laughter at the mention of his name. It can't be explained, but it's perfect.
And then there's Bob. Bob is an interesting character, he is talked up far before we meet him, so when he appears he is already an almost legendary character. The bulk of the Shakespearean scenes (maybe all of them) take place around Bob, so there is a very distinct change in tone when he is around. I mentioned earlier it's pretty abrupt when there is a transition into this very different style, but that doesn't stop me from absolutely loving the scenes themselves. I really enjoyed how it was all done, and you can pretty much expect every scene with Bob to be really fun and playful.
The last thing I want to talk about for now is these two scenes, which I think best sum up the major relationship in the film, Mike and Scott. The first screenshot is from a bit of a throwaway scene, but is a nice moment. After one of Mike's (many) narcoleptic episodes, Scott is seen just holding him until he comes to. For me it was the first time I realized the extent of their relationship, although at this point it's not clear that they are coming at it from different angles. The second scene is kinda self explanatory, wherein Mike expresses his love for Scott. Maybe it's most important because it's the first time their sexuality is discussed, which obviously plays into the rest of the story, but it's just a really sad and touching scene.
(More tomorrow, it's probably better when the other people in the matchup are, you know, posting)