My Review for STAND BY ME.

Starring:

                  Richard Dreyfuss, Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman, John Cusack, Kiefer Sutherland, Bradley Gregg, Casey Siemaszko, Gary Riley, Marshall Bell, Frances Lee McCain, Bruce Kirby, Jason Oliver, William Bronder and Kent W. Luttrell.

Directed By:
                         Rob Reiner.


Review:
                Stand by Me is an American classic and a masterpiece movie that every single movie or non movie buff should see. I grew up watching this movie and it just gets better every time and stands up with movie like The Dark Knight for the most time i have seen a movie. Rob Reiner no doubt is one of the best filmmakers of that time who made really good movies and some outstanding book adaptation like this one. Stand by My is based on the book 'The Body' by the one and only Stephen King. This is one of the very best Stephen King book adaptation ever that i have seen beside The Shawshank Redemption, Misery and The Shinning. I haven't read the book but what i get from the movie is a outstanding and quite mature book that you would to keep with you. So this movie is based on four friends, Gordie Lachance played by Wil Wheaton, Chris Chambers played by River Phoenix, Vern Tessio played by Jerry O'Connell and Teddy Duchamp played by Corey Feldman. Movie is narrated by Richard Dreyfuss who plays the older Gordie Lachance and starts with him reading a newspaper news and then the flashback which tells their story. About these four boys, Gordie is someone who lost his brother in an accident with whom he was really close and respected him very much. Gordie wants to be a writer but his father literally don't like him very much and is ignored completely by him, he is very quiet and shy with big dreams and ambitions. Chris seems to be the leader of this group and a best friend of Gordie, coming from a disturbing family of gang members he is treated or looked the same way but he isn't and has a much deeper and kind side to him. Teddy is another broke child with father/family problems and is very short tempered. Vern is your scared, fat and funny kid everyone loves to bully and all but here he is just another friend.

              Vern hears about a body that have been found of a young boy struck by train, he hears it through his big brother who with his friends decides to find it. These 4 young friends decides to the same too, decides to find the body before them and see if that makes them famous in the town and maybe in the eyes of everyone around them. Then the movies follow them as the travel around the forests and railway line to the point where they finds the body. This is in even the slightest way a suspense thriller about a body but the journey of these four young boys into adulthood or maturity. They sets out on a journey to become famous or to be received well by everyone, their families and the people but in the end learns the bitter truth of life that growing up is not easy. There isn't a single person who wont get inspired or touched by this movie in any way. When you watch the movie and you meet these four characters and ones you start knowing them, you find yourself in any one of them. I personally feel close to Gordie for being type cast by the parents for the different ambitions like my desire of studying movies and become a Film Critic but no one understands me. Stand by Me is a title perfectly given to the movie where this is the thing every character seems to be saying. Rob Reiner really treated this movie with such passion and care. We see one of the best castings for a movie revolving around children like ever. I have heard in the interviews too the actors saying how closely relatable they were with the characters they all played which brings this kind of realism in the movie to the most important part of a movie which is character development.

              River Phoenix delivers a fantastic performance with many memorable scenes like the one in woods at night when he tells about himself and his problems is truly convincing to the very core and just impressive. Will Wheaton can't be more superb than this with the performance and character that almost everyone relates too giving a performance that is very well done. Same is with Corey Feldman who delivers the best performance of his career the whole short tempered and angry attitude. And finally comes Jerry O'Connell who is funny and overweight and very lovable. River Phoenix gives one of the most mature performance i have seen from anyone of that age and makes this movie a wonderful experience. He has this bad boy image, looks, attitude and everything but the truly great thing is that inside, he is nothing like that and doesn't agree with what his family does and has his own theories and thoughts. For a guy at that age, i don't know how to put it in words since its sounds creepy but he was very good looking and the bad boy charm he has in the movie is something i have never felt in even adult violent movies. This is a dramatic movie that is so very well written and one of the best book adaptations ever. The writing elevates this movie to the heights even bigger and scarier King's adaptations can't touch. Cinematography of this movie is too die for with such great locations and a sense of loneliness there just like what the characters are feeling. I mean even for a town when they sets off on the journey everything seems quiet, calm and just lonely like no one is there and during their journey through the forests the whole atmosphere that Reiner builds is just stunning and amazing.

              The Train sequence in the movie is one of the most heart pumping moments in the movie where you see the actual horror and pain on their faces. The part where Gordie tells a story he had in his mind was thought provoking and inspiring. The scenes where they encounter the bullies that were going to find the body too at that place is one fantastic sequence. They get the command and become the grown ups that they were going to by taking things in their own hands. Throughout the movie when they travel around, you understand them more and more and is very enjoyable i mean i never wanted them to find the body, i wish the movie never ended because this group of friends together is exactly what we feel with our friends gatherings where we don't want to wake up from this beautiful dream into the wild messed up world. Reiner really understood that aspect of the movie and knew the importance of it in the plot because ultimately that is what would be shown for the most part and it just makes this movie a wonderful, exciting and very deep character study. Those who have seen this movie considers it as a classic and can't stop talking about it but overall people forgot about it completely i mean this is the actual classic.

Grade: A