In a small Oregon town lives a group of four friends who spent the summer of 1959 hanging out in their tree house. When one of them tells the others that he knows where the body of a missing kid lies, they all head out of town and embark on a two-day journey to find the corpse. Along the way, their adventure turns into an odyssey of self-discovery and each one will discover strengths they never new they had.
Based on the non-horror novella by Stephen King, Stand By Me is a wonderful coming-of-age film about friendship and mishaps. I loved it.
In a small Oregon town lives a group of four friends who spent the summer of 1959 hanging out in their tree house. That was until one of them told the others where the body of a missing teenager lies and they decided to embark on a two-day journey out of town to see the corpse. Along the way their journey turned into a memorable odyssey of self-discovery and each one discovered strengths that they never knew they had, standing by each other through thick and thin.
The sheer simplicity of the story is particularly wonderful as it leaves the way clear for the characters to move the plot along. Basically, the film is about a group of friends who go on this journey just to see a dead body, there are no real outs and ins or plot twists or anything like that. What this story is, and what I really love about it particularly, is character evolution, whilst the journey is just the backdrop and the catalyst for change and growth.
The other thing that I really love about this film is the odd assortment of characters that make up the heroes. You’ve got tough-guy Chris who’s the leader of the gang, sensitive Gordie, loud and extroverted Teddy, and pudgy scaredy-cat Vern. Not that dissimilar to The Goonies, it’s not really a collection that you’d think would all be friends and it’s really beautiful to see the irony attached to each one; case in point, Chris although coming from a broken home and having the reputation of being mean and a thief, is more than just the “leader”, he’s almost like a father and it’s really lovely to see him looking out for the others and comforting them in their hours of need. I really like that.
Featuring wonderful performances from Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell Kiefer Sutherland, Bradley Gregg, John Cusack, and Richard Dreyfuss, Stand By Me is a wonderful coming-of-age film filled with action, suspense, friendship, drama, and comedy. Beautifully directed by Rob Reiner, I absolutely loved this movie!
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