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Love, River

Before Timothée Chalamet was born, or Leonardo DiCaprio set sail on The Titanic, there was the original serious-actor-heartthrob, the first of the "young Oscar-nominated actor with amazing hair" archetypes who seemed destined to take over Hollywood — River Phoenix.

On Saturday, June 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Gedney Farm in New Marlborough, Mass., Bookdocks Film Society, founded by Jeff Palfini and Cindy Heslino of Cornwall, Conn., will screen "I Love You To Death," one of the few comedies Phoenix starred in, along with Kevin Kline and Keanu Reeves. Filmed shortly after his Academy Award nomination for his turn in"Running on Empty," Phoenix reteamed with Reeves a year later for "My Own Private Idaho," a landmark of The New Queer Wave cinema movement. The role earned him the 1992 Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, but his in-depth study in playing a street hustler led him to a drug addiction that ended his life at 23. In a 2021 Esquire profile, Reeves described Phoenix as "A really special person, so original, unique, smart, talented, fiercely creative. Thoughtful. Brave. And funny. And dark. And light. It was great to have known him."

Photo MoviesStillDB

Photo MoviesStillDB

Photo MoviesStillDB

Photo MoviesStillDB
Alexander Wilburn

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Provided

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