Stand By Me
Published 2009-05-25
Film info
- Title Stand By Me
- Director Rob Reiner
- Year 1986
- Run time 1hr 29m
- Genres Crime, Drama
- Tagline For some, it's the last real taste of innocence, and the first real taste of life.
- Cast Kiefer Sutherland
In a small woodsy Oregon town, a group of friends--sensitive Gordie, tough guy Chris, flamboyant Teddy, and scaredy-cat Vern--are in search of a missing teenager's body. Wanting to be heroes in each other's and their hometown's eyes, they set out on an unforgettable two-day trek that turns into an odyssey of self-discovery. They sneak smokes, tell tall tales, cuss 'cause it's cool and band together when the going gets tough. When they encounter the town's knife-welding hoods who are also after the body, the boys discover a strength they never knew they had. Stand By Me is a rare and special film about friendship and the indelible experiences of growing up.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:28 | No music as an intro? |
| 2:21 | This is back in the days when one would patch jeans rather than celebrate the fact that they had a rip in them. Fashion, eh? |
| 4:45 | It always bugs me when people play card games because I rarely know what they're playing or who's doing well. |
| 12:36 | I like that pinky swear is more important than swearing on your mother's name. |
| 16:29 | If you are setting out on a journey to find a body that was hit by a train, I'm not sure that sitting in the middle of the tracks would be particularly appealing. |
| 18:31 | How often do the trains run? |
| 24:44 | Wow, it's all so dusty. They're just rolling around in the dust, getting their clothes all messed up. I imagine there is worse to come, though. |
| 28:45 | Fair enough, the junkyard man is a scary psycho, but can you really expect to antagonise someone to that extent and _not_ get a response? |
| 34:08 | They are never going to make it twenty miles going at that pace, not even in a week. |
| 35:17 | Pitting Superman against various others has been around for ages then! |
| 38:11 | If you're going to have to cross the bridge before the train comes, you might want to try running. Fair enough, it's a bit gappy, but who else can sense a train coming? |
| 46:13 | Gah, food eating contests make me sick. |
| 49:00 | I will hold my hands up and say I had to look away, plug my fingers in my ears, and be told when it was safe to look back at the screen. Clearly I do not have the imagination of a ten twelve year old boy. |
| 50:30 | Vern might be my favourite. Someone has to ask the important questions about a story. |
| 51:33 | Goofy is a dog, surely? |
| 58:53 | He never thought a teacher would be devious like that? A lot to learn about the education systems, I guess. |
| 1:02:21 | Keeping a secret for 36 hours - does that even count as a secret? |
| 1:06:41 | How do leeches get into your clothes? Actually, I don't think I want to know. Gross. |
| 1:09:50 | I'm already terrified of driving near lorries with logs after watching Final Destination 2. Playing chicken with such a lorry seems like a nightmare! |
| 1:15:56 | The casting for Chris and his brother is good - they look like they could be related. As do Gordie and his brother in the flashbacks. |
| 1:17:49 | I know I don't have the mind of an adolescent thug in the '50s, but I don't see how driving straight towards a lorry without flinching is any less scary than staring down a kid with a gun? |
| 1:22:04 | He really is compelling to watch. I get it now. |
| 1:23:14 | Hehehe, that computer is old. Also, that casting is not so great. That's not what grown up Gordie should look like. |
| 1:24:37 | Now I'm going to have to read the Stephen King novella too. |
Thoughts
My friend used to talk about this film all the time, but I had no knowledge of it other than that people love it. It's always nice to go into a film knowing very little, and with an open mind.
A good film, nice and short, which makes a change. I found it hard to get into the feel of the film sometimes - not sure I can relate to troubled 12 year old boys, and you wouldn't find me anywhere near a train track when a train is coming - but the acting is superb from such a young cast. Also fun to spot a young Keifer Sutherland in there.
Rating: 5 / 5