PopHorror Let's Get Scared
There are few and far between I believe who will not list Stand By Me as one of, if not, their favorite movie of all time. Stand By Me is the kind of cozy classic that puts you exactly where you need to be in your feels, through its emotionally driven, yet subtle background score, to the beautiful acting portrayed by each and every actor. Often when you mention a ‘Rob Reiner’ movie, a warm feeling comes over you like a snuggly blanket. Rob Reiner films such as Planes, Trains and Automobiles 1987, The Princess Bride 1987, and When Harry Met Sally 1989, all follow this same vein. Funny, nostalgic, heartbreaking and beautiful.
Stand By Me is of course, one of his standout features. May Rob Reiner rest in peace.
On August 22nd In 1986, Stand By Me was released by Columbia Pictures to an overwhelmingly positive response. Stand By Me was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, best drama and best director, and an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Incredible it did not win but maybe that is due to the power of time. If you were born in the 1980s (sorry, Gen Z, if I’m wrong and this is your kind of movie, I stand corrected) you likely grew up with Stand By Me, and even as a little girl, doing my girly things, I understood why male friendship was important. I wasn’t aware I was watching a film about boyhood, I was simply watching a film about growing up.
Stand By Me features two separate gangs of men and boys in various stages of their lives. An older group of male friends led by Ace, (Kiefer Sutherland {The Lost Boys 1986}) who thrive on bullying, violence, drugs, alcohol and sex, trek out in their sports cars to uncover the body of Ray Brower, a local kid who has died after being hit by a train. Overhearing their plan, one of the members younger brothers, Vern, played by Jerry O’Connell (Scream 2 1997) informs his friends, and they set out, on foot to locate the boy as well.
Over the course of the on-foot journey, the group consisting of Vern, Gordie (Wil Wheaton known for his role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1987-1990), Teddy ({Corey Feldman} The Lost Boys 1987) and Chris ({River Pheonix} My Own Private Idaho 1991) step foot first into manhood. They grow a lifelong bond even though they all go on to live their own, separate lives after losing touch. Stand By Me is narrated by Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws 1975) and is seen through the eyes of Gordie LaChance, who acknowledges, “I never had any friends like the ones I did when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
Stand By Me is based off of Stephen King’s novela The Body released August 27, 1982. Stand By Me follows this novela closely right down the the same names, and character. Teddy is eager to follow in his father’s footsteps. Teddy’s father is a World War 2 vet, who stormed the beach of Normandy and suffers from PTSD. Teddy’s father has the reputation of a ‘looney’ and once cut part of Teddy’s ear off. Chris Chambers, is a streetwise, gentle boy who lives in the shadow of his older brother Eyeball (a member of Ace’s gang) the town looks down on him as a thief and a lyer, but Gordie respects and loves him. Chris grows into an attorney who is knifed down while intervening in an argument between strangers at a local restaurant, which is very fitting of his character, always the strong one standing up for what is right.
This last incident is what has inspired the grown version of Gordie, a writer, to write about his friends from years ago. Chris is played beautifully by River Phoenix, may he rest in peace as well. Vern, is a silly, chubby boy, who’s attributes are that he knows where the body is, and also, he packs a comb so the 4 young friends will ‘look good for the cameras’ once they become local heroes. Gordie is living inside a quiet, grief-stricken dysfunctional home, as his older brother recently died. Gordie fears his father hates him, and wishes he had died instead.
The Body as well as Stand By Me are both deeply moving, intricate and wonderfully entertaining. Stand By Me leaves the adult us reminiscing and yearning for a time when our lives were smaller, but our thoughts and dreams were overwhelmingly big, and our friends were our sanctuary.
