A dark and touching coming-of-age tale about a group of four boys who are forced to face harsh reality when they find the body of a...
Certificate
Duration85 mins
Review by
Stand by me Author Gordie Lachance reads a newspaper article titled "Attorney Christopher Chambers Fatally Stabbed in Restaurant". Seeing two young boys ride past on bicycles, Gordie narrates a flashback (later revealed to be Gordie writing) to a childhood incident when he and three buddies undertook a journey to find the body of a missing boy near the town of Castle Rock, Oregon, over Labor Day weekend in 1959. Young Gordie is a quiet, bookish boy who likes to tell stories. His parents, grieving the recent death of Gordie's older brother Denny, neglect their younger son. Gordie's friends are Chris Chambers, whose relatives are criminals and alcoholics; Teddy Duchamp, an eccentric and physically scarred boy; and Vern Tessio, who is overweight and timid. Vern overhears his older brother, Billy, and Billy's friend, Charlie Hogan, discussing Ray Brower, a young boy who has been missing for some time. Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern decide to find Ray's body, hoping to become local heroes. Chris steals his father's M1911 pistol, and the boys set out, stopping at a nearby junkyard to drink from its water pump. The boys hang out in the junkyard for a while, while Gordie leaves to buy food for the journey. When Gordie returns, he sees his friends jumping the fence to escape Milo Pressman, the junkman, and his dog. Gordie escapes as well. Pressman, infuriated, threatens to call the boys' parents and calls Teddy's father a "loony"; Teddy attempts to attack Pressman, but the boys restrain him and they leave. Will Wheaton as Gordie Lachance (aged 12) Richard Dreyfuss as Gordie Lachance (adult; credited as "The Writer") River Phoenix as Chris Chambers Corey Feldman as Teddy Duchamp Jerry O'Connell as Vern Tessio Kiefer Sutherland as John "Ace" Merrill, gang leader Casey Siemaszko as Billy Tessio, gang member John Cusack as Denny Lachance Marshall Bell as Mr. Lachance I give this film 10/10