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Mikey "Mike" Waters (played by River Phoenix) is a fictional character in Gus Van Sant's ''My Own Private Idaho''. He is a sensitive, homeless hustler who suffers from narcolepsy, directly foiling his best friend and love interest, Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), who is a type-A personality hustler from a rich, influential family. Mike, a vagabond searching for his mother, proclaims himself as a "connoisseur of roads" because he has been "tasting roads all () life."〔Van Sant, Gus. ''My Own Private Idaho.'' 1991.〕 Mikey remains one of the defining characters of New Queer Cinema and, due to the impressive critical reception, is a crucial role in River Phoenix's success and influence as an actor. For example, Eric Alan Edwards, one of the film's directors of photography, said that River Phoenix "really wore the role" because "he looked like a street kid."〔Robb, Brian J. "River Phoenix: A Short Life", Perennial, 1995.〕 ==Immediate critical interpretation== Roger Ebert characterizes Mikey as someone who "wants...love and by love what he really means is someone to hold him and care for him. He was deeply damaged as a child, and now he seeks shelter; it is a matter of indifference whether he finds it with a man or a woman." 〔Ebert, Roger. "My Own Private Idaho." 18 October 1991〕 The New York Times called Mikey "good-looking, none-too-bright...hapless...hustler" is "the product of a dramatically dysfunctional family" and who, due to his narcolepsy, is often "overwhelmed by sleep." 〔Canby, Vincent. "My Own Private Idaho." ''The New York Times.'' 27 September 1991.〕 The Washington Post praised River Phoenix's approach to Mikey's character claiming that he "brings an extraordinary quality of comic pathos to his character..he slouches through the movie, a walking blur, seemingly only half awake, but fully engaged."〔Hinson, Hal."My Own Private Idaho." ''The Washington Post.'' 18 October 1991〕 Newsweek praised Phoenix' performance in "the campfire scene," saying that "in this, and every scene, Phoenix immerses himself so deeply inside his character you almost forget you've seen him before: it's a stunningly sensitive performance, poignant and comic at once."〔Ansen, David. "Turning Shakespearean Tricks", Newsweek, October 7, 1991.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mikey Waters」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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