I love watching Hollywood movies, especially of America when it was less mad! (Before the Epstein files took the world by the storm)
Thanks to the AI in the Netflix, I got suggestions in my feed, the movies and shows which may suit my taste and that is how I came upon Stand By Me!
And…here goes the review.
Released In : 1986
QB watched On : 13th February, 2026
Directed by : Rob Reiner
Starring : *surprise… surprise* Will Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, John Cusack and the likes.
Review :
The story starts with Gordie, who reads a paper about the death of a lawyer and there begins the flash back.
Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton) and his friends, Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) and Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell) meet at a tree house regularly for playing cards, smoking cigarettes and whatnot. All the 4 friends are around 12 years old. (No way is it the age to be smoking!)
The common feature among them is that none of them have a happy family. While Chris’s father is a drunkard, Teddy’s father has mental health issues and Vern’s family is not exactly a loving and caring one. The saddest life is of nerdy Gordie, whose elder brother, Denny, a gifted baseball player, dies in a car crash. Both his parents never get over the death and his father even tells Gordie, it should have been him and not his elder brother who had died! (Who even tells that to a 12 year old??)
Poor Gordie, the stories he writes are of little consequence to his father, who is more into sports. Incidentally, his brother Denny was the only one who was remotely interested in his younger brother’s talent.
Each kid has his own trauma to get over.
One day Vern tells his friends about overhearing, his brother talk about finding the dead body of the missing teen, Ray Brower. Vern’s brother and his friend are scared about informing the police, since they are delinquents and no one believes they can be innocent of foul play!
Vern and his friends decide to find the dead body by themselves so that they can become local heroes if they help the police discover the body. They pack their bags, Chris brings a revolver from his father’s desk, for safety purposes. Gordie brings a water bottle, Vern brings a comb!(He expects newspaper notoriety, so he wanted to look presentable for the photos) The one thing Teddy had to bring was food and he brings none.
The gang of four go away for the hike, running away from a dog, narrowly escape being run over by a train, get their blood sucked by some very creepy leeches. (seeing them first time in mainstream cinema!) They also spend the night by campfire, while Gordie tells his friends the latest story he wrote about a kid named David “Lard-Ass” Hogan. Chris, the leader of the gang, the cleverest and the most passionate one tells Gordie that he is a good writer.
They take turns keeping a watch for any wild animals while in the forest. That is when Chris and Gordie bond better and share their sorrows and become better friends.
Next morning, they find the dead body of Ray Brower. This is when Gordie has a meltdown, since he is yet to get over the death of his brother Denny.
Parallelly, Vern’s brother and his gang of delinquents also reaches the dead body. Gordie scares the delinquents away with the revolver. But neither the delinquents nor Gordie and his gang get credit for their discovery of dead body. They make an anonymous call!
Later on, the kids return home, Gordie and Chris both get into colleges. Gordie is a writer and Chris is a lawyer. Vern and Teddy drift apart.
The movie ends with Gordie remembering his friend Chris who has been shot dead. He wonders if anyone ever makes good friends apart from childhood friends?
What I loved:
The actors did a great job and lived the roles. It felt like I was part of their world and it was not a movie!
One of the best coming of age movies. It stays with you, just like Dead Poet’s Society.
Interestingly, it was nominated for Academy Awards for best Adapted Screenplay.
P.S :
1. I was especially drawn to Chris and his acting. Gordie was good too. As the credits rolled, I understood why I loved Chris. He was River Phoenix! I have only heard about the brilliant actor River Phoenix was, but this is the first time I watched his movie. I felt immensely sad, because, he had such potential.
He was the elder brother of Joaquin Phoenix. River, died at the young age of 23, by accidental drug overdose! (He is super talented and his death caused a rise in fame for other actors like Leonardo Di Caprio. I hope he was not removed out of picture to make way for others! You know whose name is in the E*stein files, right?) River Phoenix was supposed to work in The Titanic, for the role of Jack.
2. Any The Big Bang Theory fans know Wil Wheaton and Wil Wheaton played Gordie, the main character in Stand By Me. No wonder I had familiar vibes.
3. This movie was adapted from the writer Stephen King’s novella, The Body.
Have you watched Shawshank Redemption? It is a classic, one of the top ten and top 100 all time movies, by IMDb rating. Well, that too is an adaptation of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, a novella by Stephen King, who also wrote IT.
4. Watch the movie and thank me later!
