Review of Stand by Me (1986) by Johnny T — 08 May 2011

A wonderful and heartwarming story about friendship and journey to self discovery. Stand By Me is a sentimental film that works because of its unsentimental moments -- in particular, its sometimes embarassingly honest portrayal of what interests boys and how they talk about it. Scripters have written inspired dialog for this quartet of plucky boys at that hard-to-capture age when they're still young enough to get scared and yet old enough to want to sneak smokes and cuss. An absorbing, touching examination of the loss of innocence that, despite occasionally drifting towards the sappy, undeniably deserves its place in the heart of a generation. This is truly one of the best coming of age movie.

VERDICT: "Full Price" - Second highest rating in the system (Positive to Mixed reaction). This is a rating to a movie I view as very entertaining and well made, and definitely worth paying the full price at a theater to see or own on DVD. It is not perfect, but it is definitely excellent.