“Stand By Me.”
Those words alone, for a lot of people, are enough to evoke a warm sense of nostalgia. In part, I think that’s because many of us 20-somethings watched the film when we were kids, and it reminds us of that time and place in our lives.
But also, I think that title has the effect of conjuring up warm memories of the adventures, friendships and scrapes of our own childhood, which helped shape us into the people we are today.
Like the narrator of the film, we look back on those times as some of the best in our lives, and we can connect to the kids in the story and what they go through over the course of two days, walking down the train tracks, searching for a dead body.
I bought the DVD a while back and watched the film this afternoon for the first time in a long time.
It’s such a simple but brilliant story.
Four friends, Gordie (Wil Wheaton), Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman) and Vern (Jerry O’Connell) overhear one of their older brothers talking about seeing the body of a boy their age, who has been missing for most of the summer.
The older brother, a member of the local Cobra Snakes gang – led by bad-ass Ace (Kiefer Sutherland) -- wants to keep the discovery a secret because he was in a stolen car when he spotted the body outside of town, near the railway tracks.
As a result, the younger boys set out on-foot to find it, believing they will be hailed as local heroes for making the discovery.
They’re the perfect band of small-town misfits – thrown together more by the fact they live in the same place and are roughly the same age, than anything else – a reality of small town or rural life.
Gordie is a sensitive, deep thinker, Chris is the tough leader, Teddy is the fun, crazy and a little bit dangerous member of the group, and Vern is the self-described “fat kid” who tends to get picked on but is still a lot of fun to have around.
They’re about 12 years old, the summer is winding down, and they do a lifetime of growing up on that two-day trek, from facing down their own demons and fears, to battling leach-infested waters and the infamous train-racing incident.
The story is told by Richard Dreyfuss, a writer and the grown-up version of one of the kids, who decides to put the story down on paper after reading that one of his childhood companions had been killed.
In the opening scene he’s pulled over on the side of a country road in a truck, holding the newspaper in his hand, stunned by the news of his friend’s death.
Then he begins to recall the adventure and disappears only to show up periodically to help tell the story.
Reiner somehow manages to shoot the film in that patina of memory. You know some
elements of the tale are being exaggerated slightly, and others played down – and some elements have probably developed into mythic proportions in the years between the story happening and him telling it. Simpy put, we’re seeing the story as it is being remembered.
It works. We all tell stories that way, or remember key moments in our lives that way.
Somehow they take on a little bit of a life of their own, and Reiner manages to suggest that that’s happening here, but the story still comes across as authentic and real.
The dialogue, for instance, is perfect. At times, the boys act much older than they are, adopting lines they have probably heard form adults. For instance: “That’s when a cigarette tastes best, after dinner.”
But at other times it’s clear that they’re just kids – like when Gordie confesses to Chris that he thinks his dad hates him.
Also, they swear all the time in the way that kids do when they’re just figuring out how to do it.
Though there are many childish moments along the way, the climax of the film is a very grown up one, where Chris and Gordie learn what it means to stand together and stand up for what’s right – facing down the Cobra Snakes.
In that moment, they become men in a small way, and I think that’s why this film resonates with so many of us. Looking back we see those milestone moments too, where years of growing up seemed to be crammed into a few brief moments and decisions.
Still relevant, timeless and beautiful. If you haven’t seen this movie, well, you just have to.
Here are a few of my favourite quotes from the movie:
Gordie: Shut up.
Teddy, Vern, Chris: I don't shut up. I grow up. And when I look at you, I throw up. Aghhh!
Gordie: And then your mom goes around the corner and she licks it up.
Teddy: This is my age! I'm in the prime of my youth, and I'll only be young once!
Chris: Yeah, but you're gonna be stupid for the rest of your life.
Vern: Nothing like a smoke after a meal.
Teddy: Yeah... I cherish these moments.
[group chuckles]
Teddy: What? What did I say?
Vern: Ha-ha! You flinched! Two for flinching! Two for flinching!
Vern: Come on you guys. Let's get moving.
Teddy: Yeah, by the time we get there, the kid won't even be dead anymore.
I think this film – based on a book by Stephen King and directed by Rob Reiner --
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