Logline: In Castlerock, Oregon in the summer of 1959, four adolescent boys set out on a journey to see the dead body of a missing boy.
Review: Based on Stephen King’s novella “The Body,” Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me is one of the best coming of age films. The film’s greatest strengths are its distinctly authentic feel and believable child characters.
The young actors are all wonderful especially River Phoenix who steals nearly every scene in which he appears. This is the film that made Phoenix a household name. The film’s most overlooked performance is Kiefer Sutherland as one of the older hoodlums Ace.
The film’s soundtrack is fantastic with some of the best songs from the late 1950s. The music helps to ensure that the viewer becomes immersed in the period that the film perfectly depicts.
Stand By Me beautifully captures those idyllic years of childhood. It remains one of the best films of the 1980s and one that never seems to age.
Great scene: Phoenix’s best scene in the film shows his incredible depth as an actor even at such a young age.