#76: Stand By Me (1986)

Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix and Corey Feldman
Academy Awards: Nominated one time, for Best Writing.
Plot: “After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy.”
Stock: Holding
Previous Ranking: #66

“It happens sometimes. Friends come in and out of our lives, like busboys in a restaurant.”

This film was based off of Stephen King’s novel called “The Body,” and it reinforces the fact that King is one of my favorite authors. Stand By Me (despite the fact it’s directed by Rob Reiner) is a terrific movie and one that I will always watch whenever it comes on television.

What I love about Stand By Me is that the four main characters are all kids. They are just barely teenagers going on a journey together. They do what four best friends would do. They bond. They tell ghost stories. They poke fun at each other. They have serious discussions.

As I get older I appreciate this movie more and more. It’s told as a first-person narrative, but from the perspective of the main character thirty years after-the-fact. He’s all grown up, has kids of his own, and is simply re-living a memorable moment of his childhood. He talks about how they all grew up, moved away, and fell out of touch. Life has a way of doing that to us.

Lest us forget the great song “Stand By Me,” used as the theme for this film … every time I hear it, I think of this movie. They are synonymous with one another.

UPDATE

Every once in a while as I read my old work I’ll think to myself, “you know, that’s pretty good.” I did just that as I went over this Stand By Me review from 2011. There really isn’t anything else to add.

Fun Fact: In an interview by Stephen King in the special features of the DVD, he reveals that the scene with the leeches actually did happen to him, when he was a child.

Hint for #75: Mark Wahlberg takes his shirt off in this movie … a lot.

Peace Be The Journey.