Mike Waters (River Phoenix) and Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves) are two similar people, yet they are very, very different.
Yes, both men are friends, and both of them are street hustlers. However, Scott is the son of a well-to-do business man and is in line to receives some big bucks from that same father. Mike, on the other hand, is alone and narcoleptic, adrift in an endless sea of people, searching for his long-lost mother.
Scott wants to help Mike find his mother. They travel from location to location to find her; from seattle to Idaho, to Rome and back but they never do find her. She is always one step ahead of them, just out of their reach.
It soon comes to the point where both men must make a choice: take control of thier lives or loose everything forever. This is where find out just how different Mike Waters and Scott Favor really are...
I'll be the first to admit that I do not understand this film one single bit. What is it trying to say? What is the ultimate goal that must be achieved?
Of course we vaugly foind out that answer. Now what?
That film starts out with the three men hir ed to... well... you know, "perform." Only this doesn't happen.
We then find Mike and Scott living in some abandoned apartment with other hustlers. What is this about? Soon, Mike and Scott are off looking for this "mother," but they can never find her.
Scott ends up marrying a girl from Italy, and Mike lays near-death on a highway somewhere. He is taken by a stranger somewhere, but we never find out. The movie ends.
I still don't get it. Am I missing something?
I must give credit to River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. They did one HELL of a good job acting in this feature. They Really did. River does a great job simulating Mike's narcolepsy (He pulls it off really well) and Keanu does the Shakespeare fairly well.
River's performance is the highlight of the film.
Plot: 
I can't understand what the plot is... the goal is not achieved, and the loose ends are not tied up.
Visual Effects: 
The way the film was editied was interesting; many varried camara angles and movements were used. However, there are no special effects shots at all.
Sound:
There are a few songs and they are a good fit. The sound effects are decent as well.
Character Development:
Mike does not change or grow at all. First of all, we know he has narcolepsy when we start the film, and he has that same illness when we end the film. During the course of the film, Mike searches in vain for his estranged mother. He never finds her, but he does search. In other words, what we start out with is exactly what we end up with. Nothing. No change at all.
Scott, on the other hand, is a different character. Scott is bidding his time untill he can claim his father's fortune. We start out with mike as a young, some-what naïve hustler with no ambitions. When we end the film, Mike is a young man, married and wealthy. He has totally changed his life around.
"When I turn twenty-one," Mike comments to himself, "I don't want any more of this life. My mother and father will be surprised at the incredible change. It will impress them more when such a fuck up like me turns good than if I had been a good son all along..."
This sums up nicely the character that is Mike Favor.
Atmosphere:
Aside from the plot, this film is easy to get into.
Realism:
This film is based, some-what, on the life of two real street hustlers, named Mike and Scott, that Gus Van Sant had once had an encounter with.
Warren’s Rating:
6.86/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
21-07-04
