Stand By Me (10/10)

[Si Cole2001]

This coming-of-age masterpiece illustrates how great River Phoenix really was. 'Stand By Me' equals The Shawshank Redemption, as the two best Steven King adaptions ever transmitted to the silver screen.

Four young friends set out on an adventure to discover a dead body and get their faces in the paper. Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern don't just search for the body, they also find themselves as they approach adolescence.

Not only one of the best stories of its decade, it also reminds us how great it was when we were 12.

Does this go in your top 10?

[Lindsey]

This is a really good movie,I just saw this again a couple days ago on AMC. This is one of my favorite Steven King storys. I loved each character and you could almost relate to them. Cory Feldman and River Phonix were my two favorite charactes. Their both good actors. My favorite part was when they told storys,and that one story about the pie eating contest was really funny. But it was really a sad movie if you think about it. Although this isn't in my top 10,it's truely one of my favorites. 9/10

[urbanlegend23]

The coming-of-age genre is rarely bettered with Stand by Me, a great movie with awesome acting, a correct directing choice and such a soulful and truthful script it literally makes you hang on the edge of your seat. No, I don't think this little number would sniggle into my top 10, but it wouldn't be ages away. I love this movie, and I can watch it heaps of times and never get too sick of it.

STAND BY ME: 9/10

[PackBacker]

http://www.joblo.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000154.html

[Ender]

If you've ever wanted to see a young, overweight Jerry O'Connel puke all over the place, this is the movie for you. Even if you haven't, it's still a good flick, even if it's not quite something to write home about. 7/10.

[Cyclonus]

Stand by Me (1986)

Director: Rob Reiner

Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland

Screenwriters: Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans, based on the novella "The Body" by Stephen King

Producers: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon, Andrew Scheinman

A Columbia Pictures release


http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00003CXIP.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg


It's strange that the best Stephen King films are derived from his non-horror works. For example, The Shawshank Redemption has no supernatural elements whatsoever, yet it is almost universally regarded as the best of an otherwise unremarkable group. It's hard to believe that such a fine film originated from a writer whose works spawned such disreputable films such as the lame Children of the Corn and the infamous Maximum Overdrive, which got bad reviews, but it wasn't completely terrible. Director Rob Reiner's acclaimed coming-of-age tale, Stand by Me, belongs on the admittedly short list of successful King adaptions. Inspired by his novella, "The Body," it demonstrates the bestselling author's skill at creating well-drawn characters, further brought to life by a talented cast and production crew.

One might make the mistake of thinking that Stand by Me is some ordinary teen melodrama, but the film is more than the sum of its genre conventions. Reiner balances drama, humor, and suspense with ease, never losing us with abrupt shifts in tones. No matter what the scene entails, it never seems forced or jarring. They are all elements in the human drama. There's a masterful setpiece of suspense involving a train, which grabs hold of the viewer and makes one wonder how the characters will escape this particular predicament. Not long after, there's a story-within-a-story, told as a campfire tale about the disgusting outcome of a pie-eating contest. I admit it's pretty gross, but it's something one would expect young boys to discuss with their peers. The ending is another good suspense scene, refreshing in its refusal to wuss out, as similar films are wont to do.

The young cast pulls it off with aplomb. In their hands, each character is a fully-rounded human being, not a group of stereotypes. The standout is River Phoenix; even when he was so young, he demonstrated an astounding range, exceeding most performers twice his age. It is a great loss to the acting profession that he has since lost his life to drug abuse. Wil Wheaton has earned a degree of infamy for his portrayal of Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but in this movie he proves that he can act. Corey Feldman faced the challenge of portraying a mentally unbalanced kid, certainly not an easy thing for a child actor to do, but he makes the character completely credible. Jerry O'Connell's character is a bit annoying, but at least he makes him a believable human being. Kiefer Sutherland is burdened with the most thankless role in the film, as a gang leader, but his acting skills temper the shallowness of his character, whose screen time is thankfully limited.

Stand by Me is not a "plot movie," but a character study. It deals with how different personalities interact and conflict, hopefully coming to a better understanding of the fact. This is true even under the most ideal circumstances, but in a life-altering situation, bonds and alliances are seriously put to the test. In this case, the main characters embark on a journey to find a dead body, but given the outcome of the story, I doubt that they would have done so had they known what was going to happen. In the end, they are wiser, but not nearly as happy.

7/10.

[jlovborg]

I don't get why so many people like Stand By Me. For me, watching it was a painful experience. Instead of offering insights into childhood and growing up, it offers tepid, schmaltzy childhood nostalgia just like many other similar movies (eg Cinema Paradiso).

If you want to see a really good coming-of-age movie, I suggest you see one that is told from the viewpoint of a child rather than an adult. The 400 Blows does this marvellously, and My Life as a Dog is pretty excellent, too. I also recommend The Reflecting Skin, which I haven't seen for a long time but I still remember how powerfully it portrays the fears and limitations of childhood.

[This message has been edited by jlovborg (edited 08-17-2002).]

[jlovborg]

sorry, double post

[This message has been edited by jlovborg (edited 08-17-2002).]

[JasonSlasher]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Ender:
If you've ever wanted to see a young, overweight Jerry O'Connel puke all over the place, this is the movie for you. Even if you haven't, it's still a good flick, even if it's not quite something to write home about. 7/10.</font>

Actually, that isn't Jerry O'Connel. That's a different kid for the story scene.

Anyways, I love love the movie, its my third favorite of all time.