Stand by Me

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Matthew M Jul 24 Absolutely amazing movie. One of my all time favorites. See more Tyler P. @TylerPhoenixMD 5h Perfect childhood movie! Really brings you back to the time they were in! The acting is fantastic, the story is amazing! This one you should not miss! See more Emily G. @emilygacek 5d Touches the heart in all the right places. A beautiful movie about the harsh realities of life and friendships. See more Bruce H Dec 22 There were things about this movie that I didn't like, but it had an authenticity and an impact that is undeniable. See more Dan T. @dlfgeo Dec 21 One of the best coming of age films of its kind. See more Joey H. @Joeyhubb1989 Dec 18 Released on August 22nd, 1986; directed by Rob Reiner, based on the novella The Body by horror and suspense master Stephen King; produced by Andrew Scheinman, Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon; and a screenplay by Evans and Gideon; this remarkable timeless film tells the extraordinary story of four young boys who, during a Labor Day weekend, take a two day trek to track down a missing boy’s dead body in hopes of achieving fame and heroism in their small town. The story is told completely in flashback and narrated by Gordon “Gordie” LaChance, played as an adult by Richard Dreyfuss and as a child by Wil Wheaton, reflecting on the first time he ever saw a dead body when he was twelve years old. Taking place during Labor Day Weekend in 1959, in a small woodsy town in Oregon known as Castle Rock, the four young boys are best friends but also come from different backgrounds; Gordie is sensitive with dreams of being a writer but is heavily neglected and ignored by his parents; especially his father, more so than ever after the accidental untimely death of his loving older brother Dennis, or “Denny”, played by John Cusack. Chris Chambers, played by River Phoenix, is the tough guy leader of their group and comes from a family with a terribly bad reputation and everyone expects nothing but the worst from him, to be just like his troublemaking hoodlum older brother Richard, aka Eyeball, played by Bradley Gregg. Teddy DuChamp, played by Corey Feldman, is the flamboyant, bespectacled, wild and crazy member of the quartet. His father is a WWII army veteran soldier suffering from PTSD and is known for having fits of rage, having once gone as far as to badly burn one of Teddy’s ears on a stove. But Teddy still aspires to be a soldier just like his father one day. Lastly in the group is Vern Tessio, played by Jerry O’Connell in his film debut. He is the heavyset, timid, superstitious scaredy cat member of the group and is constantly teased by his friends and put down by his older brother Billy, played by Casey Siemaszko. After overhearing Billy and his friend Charlie Hogan talking about how they’d spotted the missing dead body of a boy named Ray Brower while riding around in a stolen car, Vern asks the others if they wanna go find the body themselves in hopes of being called heroes and achieving fame. Together, the four of them set out on what becomes a two day trek across the wilderness during the Labor Day Weekend. As the boys trek to find the body, they each go through personal changes and experiences all while never failing to lean on each other. They also soon come face to face with the knife wielding town bully John “Ace” Merrill; played by Kiefer Sutherland, Eyeball’s best friend and the rest of their gang who want to take the body for themselves and gain their own fame. What happens next? Well I’ll leave that to anyone who hasn’t seen the film yet to find out for themselves. This film received multiple positive reviews and numerous accolades upon its release; was a commercial box office success and even garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. This film beautifully captures that pivotal moment where childhood slowly ends and adulthood soon begins. Rolling Stone would later call this film “A Staple of Youthful Nostalgia” and “the rare movie that necessarily gets better with time.” Stephen King himself would later go on to call this one of his two most favorite adaptations of his stories, the other being The Shawshank Redemption. And Rob Reiner would also call this film one of his most, if not his completely most favorite to have ever worked on. This movie has been a personal favorite of mine since I was a teenager and still is a guilty pleasure for me today. I give this film a perfect 20. See more Read all reviews

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