Stand By Me

Here's a movie that I have heard about for most of my life, and until recently, I had never seen it.  It's one of those movies that seems to mean something to a lot of people as well, so it was good to finally experience it.  The movie was directed by Rob Reiner, who was on a creative tear in the 80's. He directed a string of films that are classics ("Spinal Tap", "Sure Thing", "When Harry Met Sally"), and this one falls right into that era.  The movie is based on a short story by Stephen King, and it follows four boys on an extraordinary journey.

The movie is mostly a flashback.  A grown man named Gordie (Richard Dreyfuss) sees a note in the paper concerning the death of Chris, a man with whom he had grown up.  Upon seeing the headline, Gordie immediately begins to recollect the events of the summer of 1959.  Gordie (Wil Wheaton) and his three friends Teddy, Vern and Chris (Corey Feldman, Jerry O' Connell and River Phoenix) are all enjoying their summer and the freedom it brings.  Vern hears his older brother and a friend discussing the death of a local young boy and the whereabouts of the boy's body.  The boys come up with a plan to find the body so they can become local heroes.  They end up in a race to the body with Vern's older brother, who is joined by the local small time thug Ace (Keifer Sutherland).  Along the way, the boys all have significant discussions about their hope and fears.

The plot of this movie is really secondary to the feelings it evokes.  Sometimes, a movie's story is not nearly as important to its success as the tone that the film has.  Here, there is tremendous authenticity to the portrayal of the four boys.  Each of them have their own baggage, but all of that is portrayed in a way that is consistent with how boys would speak about such things.  Gordie has just lost his older brother, and it seems as though his parents, in their grief, have shut him out.  Chris comes from a difficult family, and it seems that he is destined for a life of hooliganism.  Vern is awkward and pudgy, and he has a hard time avoiding being picked on.  Finally, Teddy is a kid who has been abused at home by an unstable father.  Lesser movies with these themes may descend to "after school special" jargon.  This movie is able to portray these difficult adult oriented themes while still making the dialogue of the boys believable.  In a small role, Jon Cusack plays Gordie's older brother (in scenes that take place before his death).  He brings a special element of tenderness to the film, as he seems to have been a perfect older brother to Gordie, and the viewer feels even more grief for Gordie as we see whom he has lost.

After seeing this movie, it was good, but not quite the classic I was expecting.  I was very impressed by the ability of Rob Reiner to direct the young actors so well.  Also, the ability to bring great drama to everyday small town life was accomplished very well.  My hunch regarding this movie's classic status is that it brought together several young actors at once who all went on to do work as older actors.  Hence, this movie is a sort of time capsule for all of these young talented actors.  It is particularly poignant to see River Phoenix in his role, since he ended up dying so young.  He and the other young actors bring a depth to their characters that is rare.  I can see myself sitting down with my boys when they are 13 or so and watching this movie, almost as a way to introduce them to certain elements of becoming a young man.