The River Phoenix thread

[Snarky Oracle!]

Anybody remember this boy? He'd be 51 this year. He was considered one of the most promising young actors of his generation, and refused to phone in his performances in a Brat Packy way, and he was unusually articulate (for the time) about issues close to his heart --including veganism, global warming and the environment, and animal rights -- until he died of a major speedball drink on the sidewalk outside of The Viper Room om Halloween morning 1993 at the age of 23, his brother Joaquin screaming hysterically at 911 for the EMTs to arrive..

It was considered one of Hollywood's most significant tragedies but was soon upstaged by the suicide of Kurt Cobain. And River's friends and relatives have largely avoided discussing him.

He was in a number of notable films, including STAND BY ME, RUNNING ON EMPTY (for which he received an Oscar nomination ) and played a male hooker in the hauntingly weird MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO which co-starred his best pal, the thespianically challenged Keanu Reeves.

 

[Grant Jennings]

Anna Nicole and now River?! Telly Talk is in a dark frame of mind today.

 

[darkshadows38]

i can't stand Anna Nicole i never did like her but it is sad that he's gone though, i always thought River is overrated though i do think he was a great actor but the way he's treated on being a legend i dunno about that. Jack Lemmon he was a Legend and a far better actor and a favorite of mine. though i remember when River died and i was really shocked to be honest

 

[ClassyCo]

I like River Phoenix, especially as Chris in STAND BY ME, which is one of my favorite movies that I watched as a kid with my father.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

One of his most astounding performances was in Sam Shepard's ghost-western SILENT TONGUE with Richard Harris, but the movie is a mess.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

 

[darkshadows38]

Dog Fight (1991) is also a great film

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Dog Fight (1991) is also a great film

Although they have JFK's assassination occurring on the wrong day of the week... Lili Taylor, his co-star in DOG FIGHT, says River stayed in character throughout the filming of the movie and, hence, was kind of a jerk.

I used to know somebody who knew River (and Joaquin) in Gainsville, Florida where they would skateboard, and she said River was "one of the nicest people" she'd ever met in her life. But she was a cuteypie-bitch with flawed judgment, so my opinion of him went down instantly.

That said, I had a weird phase myself in 2006 where I dreamed about River almost every night for a year. And I still have no idea why.

 

[darkshadows38]

i think he's a hell of an actor and so is his brother as well. i wonder how many people realize that they were in a cult as kids? hence why they picked different names in hollywood in their early years

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I like River Phoenix, especially as Chris in STAND BY ME,

It was a little too '80s-stiff for me, although River and the fat kid (who's no longer fat) were pretty good. And Wil Wheaton would never have grown up to be Richard Dreyfuss... and that was a problem for me: Wheaton wasn't a strong enough actor yet, and his "sensitivity" was only achieved with his age -- I might have liked somebody like River's EXPLORER'S co=star, Jason Presson (who really got fat) better in the role of Gordie.

I do recall seeing this movie in the theatre on 30 August 1986, seeing River's name in the credits and our saying, "oh, he must have had hippie parents!", which was funny, as if we'd somehow figured something out.

Harrison Ford's favorite film of his own is MOSQUITO COAST, and it's perhaps the film I like best from either of them. GWTW's Prissy, Butterfly McQueen makes a cameo in her last theatrical film. Helen Mirren's in there, too.

Of course, Phoenix played younger Harrison Ford in 1989's INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.

Judd Hirsch doesn't quite work for me in RUNNING ON EMPTY -- he's too Judd Hirsch-y; I liked his casting better in ORDINARY PEOPLE.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

One of his most astounding performances was in Sam Shepard's ghost-western SILENT TONGUE with Richard Harris, but the movie is a mess.

River was initially brought into INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE to be, potentially, one of the two leads. But he was pushed down to a lesser part by producer David Geffen who was in search of a star with more-established box office clout (like Tom Cruise -- whom I disliked a lot in the movie) and icon-in-utero Brad Pitt (who may have been better cast as Lestat instead of Louis) and because there was mumbling from within the industry that River Phoenix had become "unreliable" (as evidence by his own mumbling in THE THING CALLED LOVE, a not-unlikeable little country music picture from Peter Bogdanovich).

River was strung-out, and Hollywood had become aware of it.

He was slipped into the supporting role of The Interviewer, and then replaced (by a reluctant Christian Slater) after River died on Halloween. Under a full moon. In front of someplace known as The Viper Room. On a sidewalk by a boulevard named Sunset. Just hours after almost meeting Leonardo Dicaprio.

My dislike for the resultant VAMPIRE film has nothing to do with any of this; clearly, Phoenix was losing control of himself and would never fully regain it. I just didn't like the final product: tons of potential, Cruise miscast, a muddled narrative. (Even Anne Rice, initially unhappy with the production and casting, eventually changed her tune when she viewed the completed movie -- did they cut her an additional check to publicly change her mind??)

But when I see River Phoenix's haunted performance -- I'd argue, his finest -- as the tormented widower holding graveside vigil by his Native American wife's remains in Sam Shepard's ghostly, little-seen (and deeply-flawed) picture called SILENT TONGUE, I can only wonder what Phoenix could have potentially done with the role of the grieving Louis, his family eradicated prior to INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE's opening. (With, maybe, Brad Pitt cast as Lestat).

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Cribbed from the 'What was the last film you watched?' thread before I forget:

Even River observed the eerie parallels between hauntingly lyrical MOSQUITO COAST (which I love) with his own life. River "lost his virginity" at age four to women during his family's tenure in The Children of God cult, which had an enthusiastic child-sex policy. It apparently wasn't pleasant, as one could imagine. He was celibate from age seven (when they left the cult at River's urging, his being determined to save his younger siblings from the same fate) until he was fourteen. His relationship with Martha Plimpton indeed began during MOSQUITO COAST (and they subsequently did RUNNING ON EMPTY together, where River is again very good -- which I also recommend, although Judd Hirch's casting irritates the bejesus out of me).

In 1999, The Children of God conducted an interview from the grave with River, six years after his death, where he "condemned" male homosexuality -- specifically -- because male-on-male was the only combination cult leader David Berg wasn't "into". And some people didn't realize the interview was bogus, and didn't reflect Phoenix's viewpoint at all (in fact, he'd dabbled).

River -- in real life -- said the cult "is ruining people's lives" in much the way it ruined River's.



Speaking of haunting, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO is a flawed but fascinatingly little avant-guard, occasionally cinéma vérité, mess of a movie (they use real street boys in the cast), and is the perfect film to capture the cusp-of-the-'80s-and-'90s zeitgeist (whatever that is). Again, River Phoenix is terrific, Keanu is Keanu (god-bless-him), the cinematography is breath-taking. And it almost works.

And it has those numerous prescient moments contained in so many River Phoenix movies (like his collapsing onto sidewalks, roads, etc.) we've come to expect.

Curiously, Gore Vidal turned down the role of the pederastic mentor of a band of hustler kids (ultimately played by William Richert) a real life portrait of the guy cast to give River a B.J. in the near-opening scene. Although Vidal liked the movie -- well, he wrote Myra Breckenridge -- he didn't want to play it (some have suggested it was too typecasting for his tastes).

I just wish Keanu were a wee bit better. I know they adored each other -- and I guess that helps sell it. But, jeez... Perhaps The Ghost of River helps Keanu stay on top. After Matthew Perry asked, "River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?" (sniping, as many have, about Reeve's skills) Perry was forced to apologize and soon died... Coincidence?.. Dicaprio called River "the greatest actor of my generation" but I can only imagine Leo's opinions about how loaded sweet-natured Keanu's cinematic arsenal is.

Perry's entire quote was: “River was a beautiful man, inside and out — too beautiful for this world, it turned out. It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us? River was a better actor than me; I was funnier. But I certainly held my own in our scenes — no small feat, when I look back decades later.”



The movie:

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO | 1991 | *CLASSIC*

Two best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way. Director: Gus Van Sant Writer: Gus Van Sant (screenplay) Stars: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo |

ok.ru

Speaking of Ledger, I liked Heath Ledger in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (I always call it "Bareback Mounting" because I'm clever) as I do most things he did, yet I found the film a little too patronizing. But my demands are unreasonable.

And River and Heath met the same ends, more or less.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

 

[Willie Oleson]

And River and Heath met the same ends, more or less.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

View attachment 51724

Is that him??

For the record, from what I understand, Ledger died mostly of a potentially-deadly blend of Xanax, prescribed cough medicine and antihistamine (something I'd done before frequently a few years ago) with some weed.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Director Peter Weir said that River had “something apart from acting ability; Laurence Olivier never had what River Phoenix had”.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

River was initially brought into INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE to be, potentially, one of the two leads. But he was pushed down to a lesser part by producer David Geffen who was in search of a star with more-established box office clout (like Tom Cruise -- whom I disliked a lot in the movie) and icon-in-utero Brad Pitt (who may have been better cast as Lestat instead of Louis) and because there was mumbling from within the industry that River Phoenix had become "unreliable" (as evidence by his own mumbling in THE THING CALLED LOVE, a not-unlikeable little country music picture from Peter Bogdanovich).

River was strung-out, and Hollywood had become aware of it.

He was slipped into the supporting role of The Interviewer, and then replaced (by a reluctant Christian Slater) after River died on Halloween. Under a full moon. In front of someplace known as The Viper Room. On a sidewalk by a boulevard named Sunset. Just hours after almost meeting Leonardo Dicaprio.

My dislike for the resultant VAMPIRE film has nothing to do with any of this; clearly, Phoenix was losing control of himself and would never fully regain it. I just didn't like the final product: tons of potential, Cruise miscast, a muddled narrative. (Even Anne Rice, initially unhappy with the production and casting, eventually changed her tune when she viewed the completed movie -- did they cut her an additional check to publicly change her mind??)

But when I see River Phoenix's haunted performance -- I'd argue, his finest -- as the tormented widower holding graveside vigil by his Native American wife's remains in Sam Shepard's ghostly, little-seen (and deeply-flawed) picture called SILENT TONGUE, I can only wonder what Phoenix could have potentially done with the role of the grieving Louis, his family eradicated prior to INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE's opening. (With, maybe, Brad Pitt cast as Lestat).

They saw a 20-year old Lonardo Dicaprio for INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, and they didn't cast him.

Pity. Dicaprio would have been much better cast as Lestat -- and he fit the character better, too, as described in the book -- than Tom Cruise (whom I can't abide in the film).