My Review of "Stand by Me"

Stand by Me is a movie that came out in 1986. It's a coming of age drama that I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did. I thought the movie would feel outdated since it takes place in the late 1950s. There aren't big action sequences or wild special effects but yet they were still able to capture my attention pretty well.

The movie starts off with a man named Gordie, recounting his past. He thinks back to a time when he was 12 years old. It was a pivotal time in his life as his older brother had recently passed away. His father favored his older brother and Gordie is now the neglected child despite being the only child left.

His three friends Chris, Vern and Teddy are the only kids that he hangs out with. Chris being his best friend. The four of them hang out a lot and are pretty close.

One day Vern overhears his older brother talking about a dead body that he found. The local authorities have been looking for a young boy for quite some time and it's even in the news. Vern's older brother discusses with the older kids about bringing the dead body to the authorities. This way they can claim some notoriety and become famous.

Vern brings this news to the rest of the gang and they decide that they want to find the dead body first. As young boys they're really curious about what the dead body would be like. The fame of finding the body doesn't hurt either.

They all set out to find the body while the older gang are trying to find it at the same time. This is the overall plot of the movie but it really isn't about that at all. The main focus is about each of the boys. Each of the four boys have their own story and for some reason they totally intrigued me. Despite not having experienced a lot they have deep rooted emotions in the way that society and their families have been treating them.

Each of them have some sort of troubled background that keeps them guarded. As the movie progresses these kids don't have anyone else to talk to except to each other. This is when the floodgates open and all of the skeletons in their closets start pouring out. I was really surprised how diverse each of their stories were from one another even though they relatively all live the same way.

Surprisingly, for kids some of the acting is pretty well done. Then again there are some that perform like you expect a kid would perform in their first movie. Still, I was surprised at some of the young actors in this movie. They were able to convince me that they were the character and kept me engaged to the story.

This movie does have a slower pace to it. Those that are used to the fast pace frantic movie making techniques of today may find this a little boring. If you give it some time, I guarantee each of the characters will grow on you. It even has a nice little payoff by the end of the movie.

Overall, I was surprised I liked this movie as much as I did. This usually isn't the genre that I dive into but I was curious because so many people talk about it. I can see why they like this movie. It's simple and effective. I don't know if I would be able to do multiple viewings of it however. That's why I have to give this one a 7 out of 10.