Stand By Me: Movie Review

Tania Says:
I cannot count the number of times I have seen this movie. I loved this movie when I was growing up – but really what teenage girl didn’t? I will always remember watching this movie many, many times with my best friend Sarah and quoting it even more. I hadn’t seen it in forever though so I was excited to revisit it again. And – it is still wonderful! And touching. And funny.

In case you don’t know what the movie is about, it follows 4 friends as they take a long walk to see a dead body. Wow. That description makes it seems really dull but it isn’t because it is about growing up and family and friendship and it pretty much rocks. The four boys are Wil Wheaton (my close personal friend), River Phoenix (Oh River. How I loved you? I think I wrote you a fan letter. Did you get it?), Jerry O’Connell (How happy is he that he grew up hot?) and Corey Feldman (Poor, poor Corey. Will you be back for Surreal Life all-stars)? Also appearing are a young Keifer Sutherland and John Cusack. So you can imagine why it was a teenage girls dream. All of the boys do a great job – even Felddog (Sarah and I read in Bop that Corey Haim called Corey Feldman Felddog and Feldman called Haim Haimster.) I will also lament the loss of River Phoenix. Seriously, he would have been another Johnny Depp but he loved his drugs. And my buddy Wil – ok, so I played in one online tournament with him (and got mentioned in his blog) but I really don’t know him or have a reason to pimp him BUT he does a great job with perhaps the most difficult role. For a kid, he has a lot going on, a dead older brother that was clearly the family favorite which in turn creates a horrible family dynamic, he also has to deal with growing up to be Richard Dryfuss. Seriously though, the film is narrated by an older Gordy so he has to react to that and be aware. AND – he gets a leech on his privates. Yuck. Jerry O’Connell is basically comic relief but he is HILARIOUS – so it’s all good.

It was fun to revisit it again (Josh and I could both remember lines before they happened AND I still turn away during the pie eating scene!). It is just a great coming of age story with a lot of charm and heart. It is classic to me.

Josh Says:
What can I say? I love the Wheaton. When he's not writing about us in his blog (ok, you kind of have to hunt for it but we're Maureen73 referred to in this entry, a sad reference actually), we're watching his movies and writing about him in ours.

I too have watched this movie more times than I care to count, or even could if I wanted to. More than perhaps any other movie watching experience, this one was very nostalgic. It wasn't too far into the movie before I realized that, though I could no longer recite the movie verbatim right along with the characters, I was but one second behind throughout the entire film. And it's a good film. A film that anyone of any age can watch. In fact, I was surprised and very pleasantly so at how well the movie has aged (and even more impressed at how Jerry O'Connell has aged, who knew the fat kid from Stand by Me would be dating a super model in 2007).

Though obviously a timeless story, stylistically this movie has held up incredibly well. As an example, the lard ass scene is just so brilliantly out of place and surreal that it fits right in with some of the pseudo-eclecticly-avant-garde (huh?) stuff that's coming out of Hollywood and and indies alike time and time again these days.

The big downer of course, is the whole River Phoenix thing. I mean, what a wonderfully talented kid and what a tragic story. You can't help thinking about it as you watch him, so young but so obviously serious about 'acting'. I pretended to myself that Joaquin was in fact River Phoenix and that we didn't miss out on a potentially brilliant career, but rather, we are in the midst of it, reincarnated or simply deferred to Jaoquin (see Cash if you have any doubts about his skills, or our Gladiator review for that matter).
It's a rare cinematic experience that can make Corey Feldman bearable, and this movie, believe it or not, does that and a lot more.

And this concludes my cheesiest review ever.

P.S. Wil - See you on the felt!!!!!!