Stand by Me 1982
I remember enjoying this movie when it came out, one of Rob Reiner’s early successes. I have seen pieces of it since then probably, but maybe not all the way through again until now. It is a well made movie about childhood, maybe not that hard hitting, but accidentally much more poignant since the character River Phoenix plays in it ends up dying early, just like the real life actor. Watching the extras, most of the movie came from Stephen King’s novella The Body, but also stuff that Rob Reiner threw in there from his own childhood. Centering on a group of 4 pre-teen boys, the movie relies heavily on their performances and they do a very good job, even in some emotional scenes, though they are still kids and the level of emotion seems a little out of place. Then Kiefer Sutherland comes in with some great scenes and you realize, oh yeah, that is legitimately good acting. The narration seems like a little too much, a great example of why people frown on narration in movies. Still, the movie has some great scenes and moves along quickly. I was surprised it is only 89 minutes because it seems like it packs a lot in. The extras are good, though they date back from the 25th anniversary in 2009, still long enough to see the three surviving actors grown up. There are a couple of commentary tracks, including a picture-in-a-picture version, which I didn’t watch.
Written: 02 Sep 2019
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital