Will Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and
Kiefer Sutherland star in an adventure movie about two rival gangs trying to
find a dead body, ending in a violent confrontation.
You probably just imagined something very
different than what Stand By Me really is. These actors starred
in this movie when they were in between their child and teenage years, and
though there are some high-stakes moments, it is really a film about the
amazing bond between four 12-year-olds and where it took them.
This movie was made by Rob Reiner 1986 about
kids in 1959, but it reminded me of friends I had in 2014, and ones my father
had in the 1970’s, showing how timeless a movie really can be.
It is told in flashback by older Gordie (Will
Wheaton as a child), as played by Richard Dreyfuss. He recalls a summer with
his three best friends, all of whom from households that are unhealthy to some
extent. The four boys--around age twelve-- overhear a gang of older teenage
bad-boys talking about a young boy who has disappeared and been presumed dead.
The four boys embark on a journey together after overhearing a lead to where
the dead boy might be.
The majority of the film is just those four boys
trudging through the forest and over train tracks to get to him. Though it
might sound boring, it is anything but. Perhaps it’s how intensely vulgar and
funny the boys are together or how heartbreaking their honesty, but you can’t
help but be entertained and touched by how great these kids are. It’s no
surprise that all four would go on to be well known as adult actors.
One thing I appreciated is that the film is not
trying too hard to be anything that it’s not. It verges on melodrama, but then
descends into the childish (especially in a funny and gross story-telling scene
revolving around “Lard-Ass Hogan” that I will avoid describing). It is also
able to balance humor and charm by not trying to hard.
The defining moments are the scenes that remind
us that they are really just kids, and the ones where they impress us in a StrangerThings-esque way. In one of two train based scenes, for example, they
make a risky decision to walk across train tracks with no shoulder to sidestep
onto. Predictably, a train comes and they try to make a break for it. Vern, an
overweight kid, is too terrified to run. This intense moment where even the
toughest of kids doesn’t know what to do reminds us that each of these kids is
just that; a kid. But in a later moment, they prove themselves as a pack of
very capable seventh-graders.
Watching a lot of movies can give you doubts or
even harsh feelings about child actors. It’s a tough piece of work to star in a
movie and some kids are not up to the task. As the older Gordie says “you never
have as great friends as you do when you’re twelve years old.” In the same
respect, you can’t play great friends better than a group of real twelve-year-olds.
Stand by Me really showed off child acting
skills I haven’t seen since the family watched Haley Joel Osment’s performance
in the 1999 movie The Sixth Sense. Coincidentally when you put those two films
together, you get something along the lines of Stranger Things, a
show that would coronate a new generation of young performers.
But I digress. The way that the four kids
at the center of this picture act so uniquely and honestly resonates far better
than the acting of many reputable movie stars.
In conclusion, this film didn’t tackle any major
issues or break any ground in the special effects department, but it was sure
entertaining, physically beautiful and bittersweet. Not only that, but it
showed the true abilities of so many young actors who later be well-known as
adult stars.
Dad responds: I really appreciate your reflections on what kid actors can do,
as well as how this film touches on immortal topics, such as the bond between
kids at a certain age and how those strong feelings continue into adulthood,
even when the kids you were tight with are no longer together (or even
friends).
While I definitely appreciated the acting chops
of these young’ns, I will say that, having seen the movie when it first came
out, the dialog didn’t stand the test of time for me. While that didn’t
diminish the bonds of friendship at the center of the picture, I think the
script was not as tight as the actors performing it. That said, it was
good seeing (and having you see) that kids were able to put together exciting
times in an era before cell phones (or even TVs in every house).