[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/myownprivateidaho.jpg]]

->''"I'm a connoisseur of roads. I've been tasting roads my whole life. This road will never end. It probably goes all around the world."''
-->-- '''Mike Waters'''

A 1991 RoadTripPlot film, written and directed by Creator/GusVanSant, about a [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold gay narcoleptic male prostitute]] named Mike (Creator/RiverPhoenix) who is looking for his long lost mother, along the way realizing that he is in love with his best friend Scott (Creator/KeanuReeves), also a prostitute. Scott is wealthy, however, and only whoring himself to annoy his father, and decides to quit prostitution when he comes into his inheritance.

Part of the movie is indeed set in UsefulNotes/{{Idaho}}, but a fair amount takes part in UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Oregon}}; and UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}. Part of the plot is based on Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/HenryIV'', with Bob as Falstaff and Scott as Prince Hal. In addition, much of the dialogue between Bob and Scott is paraphrased from ''Henry IV''.
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!! This film provides examples of::
* CheerfulFuneral: [[spoiler:At Bob's funeral, all the boys he mentored hold a wild party; across the street, Scott looks on rather wistfully as he attends his father's much more proper funeral.]]
* DepravedHomosexual: Many of the hustlers' clients.
* DoubleEntendre: ''Homo on ranch. Ready to ride''.
* DownerEnding
* FaceHeelTurn: Scott, who started out as incredibly caring towards his best friend then for some reason abruptly became a JerkAss who didn't care about him. Italy did it to him.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Mike Waters.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Mike loves Scott.
* IfItsYouItsOkay: Scott isn't into men romantically but makes an exception for Mike just the once.
* LivingMacGuffin: Mike's mother.
* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler:Mike says that his brother Richard is also his father.]]
* PietaPlagiarism: When Mike falls asleep, Scott often carries him about in this manner.
* RoadTripPlot: Mike and Scott travel across America and Italy to find Mike's mother.
* ShaggyDogStory
* TheTwink: Mike, in particular, is this.
* TitledAfterTheSong: "Private Idaho" by Music/TheB52s, which contains the refrain "you're living in ''your own private Idaho''". Oddly, the song is never heard or referenced at any point in the film.
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