Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix star in director Gus Van Sant's seminal meditation on the nature of innocence as two young men living on the fringes of society peddle their bodies for sex. Amiable, none-too-bright street hustler Mike Waters (Phoenix) works the streets of the Pacific Northwest with his best friend Scott Favor (Reeves). Mike secretly loves Scott. And Scott, the son of Portland's wealthy mayor, secretly yearns to cast off the friendship of his fellow lowlifes and assume his birthright of wealth, power and respectability.
Based partly and loosely on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I.