Review of Stand by Me (1986) by Jon L — 10 Apr 2011
There's coming-of-age movies, and then there's "Stand by Me." In movies that are about a group of teen/preteen characters, there are very few where I like EVERY main character. In crafting an adaptation of Stephen King's novella "The Body," Reiner accomplishes just that.
There's smart, sensitive Gordie Lachance (Wheaton), slightly crazy daredevil Teddy Duchamp (Feldman), and scaredy cat Verne (O'Connell), but the movie is almost completely stolen by River Phoenix as the movie's requisite bad boy character.
It's a shame he got taken so young. As an added bonus, Kiefer Sutherland pops up as a truly frightening villain in the boys' quest to see a real-life dead body, and along the way we get a gross-out adaptation of another King story ("The Revenge of Lard-Ass Hogan"), the stomach-churning leech scene, and the immortal line "Chopper, sic balls.
".
This review of Stand by Me (1986) was written by Jon L on 10 Apr 2011.
Stand by Me has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
