Christina Reviews *Stand By Me*

         There’s a rumor going around about a dead body that was found, but the police haven’t been notified yet.  Four friends decide to hunt down the corpse of the young boy and inform the cops so that they can be seen as heroes.  They go on a day-long trek and emerge as shattered versions of themselves.  It is a defining moment in their lives and perhaps the last time they were ever really a single unit.  At the end of the movie, the narrator/protagonist goes on to say that he never again had friends like he did when he was twelve years old.

       This is, by far, my favorite of all the Stephen King adaptations.  The young actors are fantastic, and there is a depth to River Phoenix’s performance.  You could say that he’s a river that runs deep.  Corey Feldman is also quite the character.  This is probably the only role of his I ever cared for, but it was such a great role for him. 

      The four friends fit certain stereotypical archetypes.  It’s kind of like The Lord of the Flies.  There’s the fat kid, the outlaw, the good kid and the troublemaker.    You see this set-up again and again in stories about young boys.  There was a similar dynamic in Mystic River, for example.