The movie "Stand By Me" was released in theaters on august 22th 1986, it was directed by Rob Reiner, written by Stephen King, narrated by Richard Dreyfuss and starred Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell. The film is set in a small Oregon town called 'Castle Rock' in the late summer of 1959. It follows the lifes of 4 young men as they search to find the body of the missing 12 year old boy Ray Brower.
The four boys involved in this quest; Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern each come from different walks of life and each have their own individual struggles and complications that come along with growing up. Whether it be in '59, '95 or 2010 the experience of adolescence is still very much the same for everyone. Which is the main reason why this classic film connects with viewers on such an intimate level.
After Vern over hears that the body of the missing boy Ray Brower is supposedly a few miles from town somewhere tucked in the woods along the train tracks, he goes and tells the rest of the gang about the exciting and gruesome news. The boys talk about the prospect of going on this journey into the unknown to find the body. With school starting back in just a few short days and with visions of being welcomed home as local heroes for discovering the missing boy they ultimately decide it's an adventure they can't pass up.
The story mainly revolves around Gordie Lachance, who is coping with the recent loss of his older brother, Denny, who spent more time and interest in Gordie's life then their parents did. Denny was a high school football star and the apple of his fathers eye, after his passing the parents, especially the father, took to neglecting Gordie even more then they had before. Chris Chambers, Gordie's best friend, comes from a family of criminals and alcoholics and was branded a "thief" at an early age for stealing lunch money. Mainly due to stereotypes and prejudices Chris is growing up to be a rebel and an outsider. Vern Tessio , the nerd of the bunch, is a shy, slightly overweight and easily frightened kid, which often makes him the butt of ridicule. Finally there's Teddy Duchamp, the son of an abusive, unstable father who once put Teddy's ear to a stove, leaving him permanently disfigured. Teddy is kind of a goofball, looking to always make jokes or find humor in situations. A trait that I'm sure he picked up as means to deal with his horrible home life.
The next 80 minutes of film is a bonding, and emotional experience for the four friends. From dodging trains and swimming through a leech infested swamp to laughing around a camp fire and crying on each others shoulders. They end up finally coming across the body and quickly realize that this trek of theirs isn't going to have such a glamorous conclusion like they initially thought.
Shortly after finding ray the boys are surprised to see that Ace (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and his gang, of much older guys, have driven down to the same spot to show up and take the body and get all the recognition for finding the missing boy. In an intense stand out between the two groups Gordie and his gang hold their own and eventually Ace and his hooligans concede and head back to town. In a change of heart the boys decide to leave the body of young Ray Brower where they found him and return home to make an anonymous phone call to the police informing them of the whereabouts. Over the course of the past few days the boys have proven to themselves and to each other that they have what it takes, to stand their ground, to survive on their own and to make it in this crazy and unfair world.
I think the original tag line for the film sums it up best, "For some, it's the last real taste of innocence, and the first real taste of life. But for everyone, it's the time that memories are made of."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dude, excellent. I've never seen this which is ridiculous because it's ROb Reiner and Steven King. But, I'm sold, its on my netflix...now.
ReplyDeleteOh man it's sooo good. It's one of those movies i have to watch atleast once a year.
ReplyDeleteYea, it really is a good movie. I particularly got a lot out of the relationship between Chris and Gordie. Especially the confessions by the tree (I wish I could go someplace where nobody knows me). Or, just the simple parts when he saw the dear, how he kept it all to himself because of its beauty. I love the voice-over! Childhood almost has all the elements of Greek Tragedy. But 'grown-ups' tend to treat their hardships as something that's not a real hardship. They'll grow out it, they say. One day, they'll be adults and have to deal with the 'real problems'. But childhood is full of tragedies. Full of all the monumental events that makes us the adults we eventually become! And Stand By Me really underlined this for me. The fact that it was told by a grown-up as a memory of a childhood. When it's a memory it's more mystical. I never thought it would happen, but I can say that any memory I have (especially the childhood ones) are drenched with a kind of frozen beauty, and there it's just so much more meaningful in some way. The innocence of it. Less bullshit. The first time for this and the first time for that. It just feels like a modern day Odyssey.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite line - and the one I can relate to the most - is when Chris asks Gordie if he's ever going to get of 'this town'. There's so much here. 'This town': that just encompasses EVERYTHING we want to journey away from to find ourselves somehow, somewhere, just not here.