Review of Stand by Me (1986) by Alex R — 15 Jul 2011

The first movie I saw with River Phoenix after he first became my idol (around 1998-1999). I'd only heard of the movie Stand By Me then but I just KNEW that it was a classic. Wil Wheaton became my one of my favorite actors after this movie as well. I couldn't help seeing Stand By Me for seven straight mornings during my seven day video rental. This movie deserves that kind of appreciation and more. All four boys did a great job and got me immersed in their journey. Each of the four young leads have a scene where they cry over something, and all four scenes are effective in their own ways. But being a new fan of River at the time (and knowing it's been five or six years since his beautiful soul had passed), his scenes affected me the most and I found myself crying when he cried. I also have the soundtrack of this movie because the music really complimented the touching friendship that the four boys shared. Everyone involved with this movie should be proud because Stand By Me is one of the greatest films I've ever seen.

Once you finish seeing a film like Stand By Me, every other work that any actor in the movie does seems incomparable. When I see documentaries of this film that show the four boys walking on the train tracks bonding together, there isn't any sadness, only a sense of knowingness. I knew every line of Stand By Me when I first became a fan of River and I still know the dialogue today. I never mourn over the fact that I had already seen this beautiful film because it's right there with me and it's like seeing a piece of yourself on screen when you see those four boys walking alongside each other.