Stand by Me 1986
- Director: Rob Reiner
- Seen by this director: The Magic of Belle Isle, The Bucket List, Rumour Has It, A Few Good Men, Misery, When Harry Met Sally, Spinal Tap
- Based on the novella by Stephen King
- Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, Richard Dreyfuss, John Cusack
- Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
- Wil Wheaton – The Big Bang Theory
- River Phoenix – My Own Private Idaho, Running on Empty, Mosquito Coast
- Corey Feldman – Pauly Shore Is Dead
- Jerry O’Connell – Veronica Mars
- Kiefer Sutherland – Melancholia, A Few Good Men
- Richard Dreyfuss - What about Bob?, Postcards from the Edge, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Good-bye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, American Graffiti, TV series from the 60s
- John Cusack - The
Butler, 2012, 1408, Identity, Serendipity, High Fidelity, Being John Malkovich,
Cradle Will Rock, The Thin Red Line, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,
Grosse Point Blank, The Grifters
Why? Recommended by many.
Seen: 7 October 2021.
Four twelve-year-old boys, who aren’t as tough as they pretend to be, set out on a sort of road trip, mostly walking along a railroad track, to find the body of their missing classmate. Their rivals are a gang of older teenaged hoodlums who are as tough as they pretend to be, sort of. There is enough danger and tension to make the film exciting at times.
Best were the glimpses of a young John
Cusack and the excellent acting of the even younger River Phoenix.
Films about boys before coming of age tend to be annoying but this is one of the better ones. Not as good as its hype though.
3 ½ * of 5
Not as good as King's novella, either. "Apt Pupil" from the same collection also turned out rather bland and superficial on the screen, the stellar presence of Ian McKellen notwithstanding. Only "Shawshank" is really comparable to the novella.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen or read 'Apt Pupil' and haven't read 'Shawshank' so I can't make comparisons. Otherwise I find many King films to be good, but nor having read the original, I can't compare them either. Oh yes, I liked 'The Dark Tower' film more than the book. Yay, Idris!
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