Stand By Me

Starring :	River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, Richard Dreyfuss
Director :	Rob Reiner
Year :	1986
Studio :	Columbia Pictures

Stand By Me is my favourite movie of all time because it is just so magical. The first time I saw it I was knocked for six. The acting is great and the story itself is timeless. It really does take you back to a more innocent and happy time in your life.

The story begins when Gordon Lachance (Wil Wheaton) learns of the death of his best friend Chris Chambers (River Phoenix). The viewer is then taken back to a time when Gordon and Chris were twelve years old. Gordon remembers when he lived in Castle Rock and he and his three best friends had a tree house in a big elm. Chris, Gordon and Teddy (Corey Feldman) are all sitting in the treehouse playing cards when Vern (Jerry O'Connell) arrives and asks

"You guys want to go see a dead body ?"

Vern was hiding under the porch when Charlie Hogan and his brother Billy reveal that they know where the body of missing local boy Ray Brower is hidden. Vern is worried the older boys will find out he was hiding under the porch but the other boys get really excited and decide to look for the body themselves. Gordie goes to his house picks up his stuff and meets Chris in town. Chris has brought his father's gun with him and Gordie and Chris have fun playing with it at the back of the Blue Point Diner. Unfortunately for the pair they meet town Bully Ace Merrill and Chris's brother Eyeball on the way through town and Ace steals Gordie's hat and has a go at Chris.

In the midday sun the four boys meet at the tracks and set off down the railway tracks in their quest to find the body of Ray Brower. After Teddy narrowly avoids being hit by a train the four boys arrive at the local dump which is guarded by a hell hound called Chopper. Gordie goes to the local store but when he comes back he is chased by the demonic Chopper. When the four see Chopper they all laugh hysterically because Chopper is nothing like the legend. The four have an hilarious argument with dump owner Milo before heading on.

The four come to a trestle where the tracks cross the river and so they decide to walk over it. They make it across the trestle but Gordie and Vern have to run for their lives when a train comes.

The boys camp out in the woods and Gordie tells the story of Lard Ass Hogan a picked on fat boy who decided to get revenge in a pie eating contest. After the story the four have a profound conversation about the nature of goofy. That's weird proclaims Vern "What is Goofy ?" During the night Chris confides to Gordie that he did steal the milk money at their school but breaks down crying when he tells Gordie that a teacher stole it back off him.

The next day the boys continue to follow the tracks and decide to make a short cut. The problem is they end up swimming across a swamp and end up getting covered in leaches. After a bit of fighting between Teddy and Vern they have nearly reached the body.

Little known to them however, Billy and Charlie have blabbed to Ace and the gang about the where-abouts of the body and as the four boys nearly reach the body Ace and the gang are zooming down the highway to meet them.

When they finally reach the body of Ray Brower Gordie breaks down and is comforted by his friend Chris. Ace Merrill and the gang arrive and the two gangs fight for dibs on the body but things go wrong and Ace nearly stabs Chris. Chris however is saved when Gordie fires the gun they brought along.

In the end nobody gets the body and the four boys walk home through the night. They arrive back in Castle Rock in the early morning and first Vern and then Teddy disappear in the morning light. Gordie and Chris stop near the tree house and then Chris leaves and disappears in the morning light.

At the end of the movie the older Gordie is writing the story down on his computer and when he is finished he leaves with his own son and his friend and exits the scene.

Overall this movie is absolutely perfect. Your probably thinking if this is a review then where is the critical analysis ? Well I am not going to give any. I love this movie and I refuse to justify it to anyone. Some people may think that this is just a simple story about some kids going down the railway tracks but it isn't. I don't know where Stephen King got the idea for the story "The Body" but it is certainly much more than that.

Review By John

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