Review of Stand by Me (1986) by Cameron J — 23 Jun 2012

Based on the novella "The Body", by the horror legend himself, Stephen King, the man behind the chilling "The Shining", the brutal "Misery", the intense "Cujo" and many more classic pieces of thriller literature, comes this charming and touching coming-of-age portrait on boyhood adventure. Okay, now, granted, these kids are smoking and cursing like sailors while on a harsh and life-threatening trek (Ha-ha, the stars wasn't the first place Wil Wheaton trekked) to find the corpse of another kid, so it's not like "The Body" is the most upbeat coming-of-age tale out there, though I think that it's still safe to say that the great Mr. King is a diverse writer. His work has certainly made for some good films, as well as a few curses, because although the then-youngsters in this film are reasonably recognizable names, one of them's dead and most of the others may as well be, because they haven't really gone too many places after this film. Outside of John Cusack, who's in pretty much every other film every other year, and probably just because he's hardly in the film long enough for the curse to take effect, about the most still-active person out of this cast is Kiefer Sutherland, and even then, after the '90s and outside of "24", you kind of forget that he's still around, which is a shame, because the promising youth in this cast have gone on to be very go... Well, at least Sutherland and Cusack have gone on to say good actors, much like the late, great River Phoenix would have, yet at least the River runs on in his brother, who even went so far as to fake his own music career and "secret" drug abuse, though in Joaquin's case, the thing about "faking" something that's not good for you is that you're much more likely to survive it. Outside of Joaquin, at least we still have such fine performances by him as the one in this to remember him by, as he and his castmates "stand" among the key aspects to this film's "standing" so strong. Still, although this film is fine "by me", it's not unlike the adventure it's centered around, as it too is not without its bumps along the way.

At a mere just under 90 minutes, it's hard to not think that the film is bound to be tight to a fault, and sure enough, this film does get to be a bit too tight for its own good, glossing over some pieces of exposition that would have bridged gaps in story flow to make for a more comfortably told film. However, what is not terribly pronounced, yet still surprisingly more prevalent is, in fact, some padding. Now, I'm not saying that I would have prefered an hour long minute short film, as this film could easily shape up to break the 100 minutes mark comfortably, yet it remains plagued by the aforementioned hurried moments, but also, the excess material that just pads things along so much that, at points, you even forget just why in the world these kids are on their adventure to begin with. The film's focus gets to be a bit hazed, as its story seems to be just barely a little more than a vehicle for the film to fulfill its true purpose of being merely a portrait on boyhood comradery during a simpler time, yet still amidst less simple personal struggles, which is a worthy theme, though one overplayed in this film, not just in presence in comparison to genuine plot, but in emphasis. The film is occasionally too unsubtle in its portrayal of '50s free-spirit boyhood, rarely, if ever lapsing realism, yet getting to be so overbearing and even kind of cliched in its portrayal that it comes off as a little hard to fully buy, or at least when the kids aren't coming off as fairly obnoxious. Were the the story more comfortable in structure, as though it were more like the Frank Darabont Stephen King adaptations that came later and did a better job with the storytelling styles that this film clearly inspired, it could have made for a particularly strong picture, yet as it "stands", it's improvable. However, through all of its faults, even I have to just go ahead and say that the film is well worth watching, for although the film "stands" to stick its landing better, the actual final product remains a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and for a couple of reasons.

I may not be a huge Stephen King reader, yet I recognize his work through their translations, and that's all I need to conclude that the man knows how to write a story, so, sure enough, this story is a worthy one indeed, tackling provocatively fascinating themes and tones amidst a very lively adventure concept. The spotty structure in the film translation of this story does, as I said, betray to the effectiveness of such a story, yet Bruce A. Evans' and Raynold Gideon's screenplay remains fairly sharp, with a charm and resonance really brought to life by Rob Reiner's imperfect, yet generally inspired direction. The film is consistently entertaining and thoroughly charming, when not rather moving in its portrayal of youth maturing through comradery and struggle, and for this effectiveness, credits goes out not only to the screenplay and direction, but our leads, all of whom "stand" as fine early examples of child actors who are capable of delivering perfomances that can carry dramas this deep. Jerry O'Connell delights in his charming, yet surprisingly multi-note portrayal of every great child group's token skeptical and chunky (Sorry ladies, but O'Connell wasn't always good-looking) dork who still fits in, while the late, great River Phoenix is just as charming and suprisingly dynamic in his portrayal of a strong, yet somewhat regretful seeming and misunderstood young buck. From this cast, Corey Feldman particularly steps up, stealing the show as a very unpredictable wild child, yet one with subtle and very human layers that, when unveiled, give us genuine and almost transcended insight into the seemingly chipper, yet actually troubled Teddy Duchamp character. As for our main Gordie Lachance character, while his compellingness is certainly helped by Richard Dreyfuss' awesomely smooth voice telling you about his young self, a young Wil Wheaton really keeps things going with a very connecting presence that makes him an effective avatar for the audience, as well as with a kind of subtle tone of anguish over his own personal demons, making him a strong character, by his own right. Wow, really laying out the description of these characters really reminds me of just how generic they are, yet that's not to say that they're any less compelling, as our young performers, as well as the inspired writers and director who give the performers material, do enough to bring this worthy story to life as a genuinely enjoyable final product.

In conclusion, the story is as familiar as it is much too brief, tightening past some smoothing points of exposition, yet still finding time to incorporate excessive material that pads out the film to the point of losing story focus, while overly pronouncing the film's themes, which sometimes go overemphasized to the point of ringing rather false, thus making for a spotty film is somewhat squandered potential, yet through a generally inspired written and directorial execution of the worthy, charming and, at times, even moving story that goes further carried by a strong slew of charismatic and surprisingly layered performances by a team of young talents, "Stand By Me" ultimately "stands" (Yeah, I'm getting tired of really stressing the word in the title) as a consistently entertaining and sometimes moving portrait on the highs and lows of spirited boyhood.

3/5 - Good.