Sunday, July 27, 2014

Movie Review: "Stand By Me" (1986)

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Movie"Stand by Me"
Director: Ron Reiner
Year: 1986
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes

A group of friends, Gordie (Wil Wheaton), Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O'Connell) are living in Castle Rock, Oregon and enjoying their summer in 1959. One day when Vern overhears the location of the dead body of a missing kid named Ray Brauer, they set out on a hike along the railroad tracks to find it. This journey becomes a life-changing experience for the 12 year old boys as they learn more about each other and themselves along the way. They also deal with the threats from oncoming trains, genitalia attacking dogs, the wilderness, and a gang of older teenagers lead by a thug named Ace (Kiefer Sutherland).

Awwwwwwwwwwww, baby Wil Wheaton. Awwwwwwwwwwwww, River Phoenix. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, chubby young Jerry O'Connell!

This is a classic coming-of-age story that throws together a group of very different kids on an adventure of self-discovery, curiosity, and the intrigue of seeing a dead body. Most people can relate to at least one of the kids in this movie as they come from different backgrounds and have very different personalities. Though the specific instance of seeing a dead body doesn't apply to everyone (well....we hope....), we all have fond memories of our childhood, our childhood friends, and a little adventure that sticks with us throughout our lives as a snapshot of a moment in time when things were simpler and maybe have really helped shape who we are today. The world was our playground in a time where we were not distracted by cell phones, the internet, the 24-hour news cycle, and digital media in general.

This is one of BigJ's favorite films. Seeing this movie in the 1980's, though it takes place in the 1950's, still resonated with him then and continues to do so today. I have only seen this movie twice and can still relate as well. Stephen King seems to have put a lot of himself into his novella The Body, from which this movie is adapted, and we wondered while watching this if any or all of the characters were based in truth on his life. Though its stars were then children, the performances are memorable and really great. Most of the time when a movie stars multiple kids, one or two of them does a good job, but the others are sort of just there. Each of the 4 children, Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell, are all equally impressive. They are a good representation of how a lot of young semi-hoodlum outcast kids are, who aren't bad kids but get into minor trouble. I can't help but wonder how high River Phoenix would have soared in his life had he not died several years ago. Even Kiefer Sutherland, though only on the screen a short time, was fantastic as the local gang bully. He was extremely believable and gives a stellar performance. Altogether, the cast is brilliant and they all play off of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Friends come and go and life goes on, but our memories stay with us for eternity. "Stand By Me" gives us a window into small-town life in the 1950's and it gives us a memorable, sentimental look at a group of friends who eventually grow apart, but whose experiences may stick with us for the rest of our lives.

My Rating: 9.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 10/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
One year ago, we were watching: "Audition"

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