Episode #92: STAND BY ME

[Galactiac 91]

I gotta say as a "soft yes" on this movie, quite a few of the "no" arguments are very persuasive to me. I'm still a "yes", but the ambivalence I'm feeling now really does make me wonder if nostalgia for being a 12 year old boy is throwing me off. I still feel like it's really good though, and any improvements that could be made would leave you with mostly the same experience.

 

The "four boys go off on an adventure" premise has been borrowed a lot, so I can see how it feels like a cliche now.

[sycasey 110]

I voted a soft no. Somehow I had avoided ever seeing this movie until it came up for the Canon, so maybe that's why -- not having come across it as a younger person means it wasn't going to connect in the same way it did for Devin. I think it's a well-made movie, but it didn't have that extra-special "something" to push it over the top.

 

I agree with those who say there are at least three other Reiner movies from the same decade that would be more deserving. The young actors are cast well and the film can be given some credit for "launching" their careers, but none are exactly household names today. It's a very good coming-of-age boyhood movie, but this is well-trod territory in film history and I don't see that Stand By Me clearly rises above that pack.

 

That said, I'm not upset if it gets voted in.

[thewriterboy1416 0]

So I'm 20 and I watched this a few months ago and I thought it was good. That was about it. But after listening to the episode, it helped me pick apart some of the nitty gritty things and I really appreciate that.

 

As far as the movie, I would go a soft yes. It's a bit saccharine, and nostalgia is the main character rather than an even more childish Wil Wheaton.

[Gleemonex 1]

Hard no. Let this movie die in the Applebee's TBS Canon with Shawshank and Forrest Gump.

[JoshuaABranstetter 0]

Yes. I only first saw Stand by Me this summer, I was born after it released, and I don't believe I hold a nostalgic attachment to the film, but a story about kids learning to accept their own mortality speaks to me on a foundational level, and Reiner does this with perfect casting and a story that feels real and down to earth. I saw so much of myself in each of those kids, and so much of the kids I once called best friends, people I never talk to now. This captures that aspect of growing up so well, with sincerity and authenticity. Big yes.

 

And I love the Keds simile, it paints a clear, concise, and vivid image, and that's what a good metaphor should do.

 

Also, there was totally a homoerotic vibe going on between Phoenix and Wheaton's characters.

[BrandonKendall 2]

Better than Shawshank Redemption. Easy Yes.

[Ryan L 57]

I love Wil Wheaton, but I think we've already filled our train movie quota for the Canon. HARD NO!

[nooooo 2]

I found Amy's entire argument against the bullying thing to be pretty absurd. I don't know if the alpha-male pecking order still exists between friend groups at this age, but considering the period, it certainly is accurate. Is that a reason for a film to be Canon--worthy, though? I could argue it is a merit that very few other films achieve.

 

Does it prey on nostalgia? I could argue that the film capturing the atmosphere of being a child as opposed to making specific references implies a level of storytelling skill which excels past, as Devin stated, something like Family Guy. But that's not a real argument, is it? Eh, whatever.

[vanveen13 13]

I re-watched this film, despite having seen it dozens of times as a kid. And wowee zowee, what a great film. As a matter of fact, this is the film Rob Reiner considers his best work. As someone who was a twelve year-old boy when they first saw this, and who is revisiting the film ten years later, it feels as real as a film can get. Reiner and the cast capture boyhood friendship so authentically. Most of their dialogue is so right, just focusing on inane banter and hangout conversations. The part where Chris is saying he wishes he was Gordie's dad feels right. I remember being twelve year-old and saying big, ill-fitting things that seemed profound at the time, but were just grasps at being a deep, adult person, much like when Teddy talks about how much he likes smoking after dinner.

 

Also, independent of Devin's reading of the film, this time around, I 100% got the same homoerotic vibe between Chris and Gordie. They do love each other very deeply. They don't just get along, but they allow themselves to be vulnerable with one another. When Chris fires off the gun and Gordie is upset, Chris doesn't just blow Gordie off. He stops him, grips him, and earnestly tells him that he didn't know the gun was loaded. Minutes later, after they run into Ace and Eyeball, they do that thing where they kick each other's butts, and they don't think anything about it. They have an intimacy with each other that the film is CLEARLY addressing. And you know what? I was sold by that ending. There's a romantic tension that the film plays so subtly that it's easy to miss, but Gordie and Chris love each other, 100%, on a level that they maybe couldn't articulate or express directly, but it's there. Also, if I remember correctly, the end of "The Body" has Gordie confessing that his work isn't all that well-received, but his books keep getting made into super successful moments, which I love.

 

Anyway, yes. 100% yes. This is a small, near-perfect film. It may even be the best Stephen King adaptation. I wish I had more to say about how well-paced it is, and how much I love the dynamics between all of the characters here. The only thing I'd say is that Amy seemed to have problems with the tone. For one, I like the shot of the dozens of holes. It's a great visual joke, and it lends to the next moment where Vern sticks his head up to hear his brother and his friend, and he looks like a gopher. It's a comedic moment that fits the character. The flow of the film flows with the characters, and it's always logical and real.

 

Also, having recently been a teenager, I don't find Teddy to be a bully. He's an annoying jerk, for sure, but I don't think he's being malicious. He's just fucking around. When Vern explodes at Teddy, Teddy not only doesn't retaliate, that outburst comes as an extension of the conflict of events within the film. Plus, these kids all pick on each other a little bit. Vern gets it the worst, but you know what? This whole movie happens because they go along with Vern's plan. They're not running trucks off the road in a game of chicken.

 

With that in mind, could we PLEASE work on getting female coming-of-age films in the canon? If Stand by Me illustrates the unique experience of being a twelve year-old boy among other twelve year-old boys, clearly there have to be other films that capture that for women and girlhood that aren't anime--because we're never getting an Only Yesterday episode, despite my constant badgering.

This is such a nice well written quote. I have a different take on this movie, but it's such a wonderful thoughtful piece in its own right.

[AlysMurray 0]

I think I should probably start by saying that Stand By Me is one of my favorite movies. It was one that my mom shared with me when I was thirteen, and has stuck with me since then. We constantly quote lines back and forth, referencing the movie all the time. It's been a fixture in my house for almost ten years now.

 

However, I think you can really, really, really like a movie (even love a movie) without putting it in the canon. What did Stand By Me contribute to our greater conversation about cinema? What did Stand By Me teach future filmmakers? What impact has it left on our ability to tell stories through movie-making?

 

As much as I love this film, I would suggest that it's impact is minimal and arguable at absolute best. Sure, perhaps the campfire scenes had some later copy-cats and perhaps this movie does accurately represent boyhood, as Devin suggests. But, frankly, that's just not enough.

 

tldr: A good movie is not necessarily an important movie, and I think it's necessary to remember that when we're evaluating The Canon.

[Popobawa 0]

I must have watched this film a dozen times from when I was about 12 - 18. I remembered it fondly but picking it up again after a couple of decades today it fell flat. Have I gotten too old to appreciate it? I found I could no longer connect with this film. I remember disliking Feldman and boy is that performance still annoying. No from me.

[PatrickGaertner 17]

I have to go with 'yes' on this one.

 

I agree with basically everything Devin said, and while I didn't agree with everything Amy said, she made some great points. I just think that the movie holds up as a classic, both as a coming-of-age tale, and as an examination of nostalgia. And yes, I definitely agree that this may be because I'm a guy, and can relate with these kids. My wife watched it with me this time, and she came down pretty close to Amy. That honestly may be a huge piece of this movie. But it worked for me.

 

Oh, and while I'm not 100% sold on Devin's take with this all being told by Gordy and his lens, I had never thought of that and found it fascinating. I may have to watch it again soon with that in my mind.

[raskuhl 0]

Yes vote from me. I'm sixteen now, and was 12 when the first AVENGERS came out. That's pretty far off from the 80s, which is pretty far off from the 50s, but STAND BY ME is still great and relatable. I've been homeschooled since 2nd grade and often move, and therefore never really had friends. I'd nonetheless go on adventures in the woods with my siblings or cousins, exploring parks and trails and even a pet cemetery. So that stuff definitely resonates, though I don't see myself in any of the characters too much.

[CoryKilduff 0]

Yes vote from me. Im pretty firmly in the same reasoning range as Devin.

[KennEdwards 1]

I'm 28 years old and can't believe I had never seen this movie until just now, and I'm so glad The Canon exists to make me get into it. The moment the whole movie made sense to me, the moment it all clicked, was write after the milk money story - which is great - but the quiet moment after said everything about the movie. The moment with the deer. A beautiful little encounter that definitely happened, but then the writer lets us know that "I had never spoken or written of it before just now." As if the moment, as a perfect representation of how fleeting life is, was never real to the rest of us until he shared it with others, be it audience or friends. It's the entire reason we write. To let history know, "this happened." Summed up beautifully in a perfect 60 seconds of film. I had the pause the movie for a moment to weep at the profundity it tapped into. And that's just 1/90th of the movie, the rest of which was similarly measured and executed.

3 more tiny things:

Glad I finally have a face to put the name Corey Feldman to. For years I've been annoyed not knowing who the fuck that reference was.

Lard-ass' Barf-o-Rama is my new favorite short film.

I don't necessarily agree with the read that the leads are in love, Devin. But I do agree with literally everything else you said in the episode. So if you could slap me some virtual skin by unblocking me @TheKennEdwards, I will forever Stand By your tweet-stream at the very least.

[faeyr 0]

I vote yes!

 

And I knew Stranger Things would get no love, but I held out hope anyway. My mistake.

[LahiruDayananda 0]

Get's a YES vote from me. A classic film.

[Cronopio 127]

This is a fine movie, craftsmanlike in execution but with no real artistry or any kind of inspiration in its use of the camera. Everything is fine, and results in an enjoyable, safe film with no real bite to it. Soft no from me.

[TKFopp 14]

A no from me. This is a good movie (and if you haven't see it, you absolutely should) just not great, or Canon worthy. Its more noteworthy to show Reiner's breath of range in his hot period (when Rob was on, he was on), than an example of his filmography, King's, or the genre's best. I'd push Misery as a better example of a Reiner/King collaboration too.

 

I was 13 when this came out (almost 46 now) but I've never felt connection to it, now or then, not in the way Devin talked about. Then again, I've always been had a hard time connecting with ANY coming of age stories, they never seemed to speak to me or what I experienced as a kid (which was odd since I was a white boy in Jersey suburb/farmland area, a favorite target demo of studio films). But coming age movies in the 80's were all about 50's childhoods, so naturally we have 80's nostalgia coming of age moves now.

 

One possibly historic note on the film, didn't it kick off a slew of films into the 90's that used an existing, once popular song as the film title? It certainly wasn't the first, but it feels like this was the one that popularized that particular marketing practice for a decade or so. (You could use this as pro or con for it being in the Canon now that I think of it)

[JimmyMecks 49]

This is a fine movie, craftsmanlike in execution but with no real artistry or any kind of inspiration in its use of the camera. Everything is fine, and results in an enjoyable, safe film with no real bite to it. Soft no from me.

 

I voted no and am disappointed it's gonna make it into The Canon but I gotta disagree with the idea that there are no inspired uses of the camera. As Devin and Amy stated in the episode, the train sequence is really crafted. I'd also add the initial train scene where Corey Feldman plays chicken before River to pulls him off cuts to them on the side and the train passing by very closely. There are also some pretty beautiful landscape shots, particularly when they leave the train tracks and head into the woods, the frame is divided nicely between the sunniness of the field at the bottom and the dark, forest green at the top that they're running towards.

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

And I knew Stranger Things would get no love, but I held out hope anyway. My mistake.

Stranger Things works as a throwback piece, but the characters are paper thin and their motivations make no sense at all.

 

I'm still on the fence with Stand By Me. I love this movie but it seems to be missing something. I agree with Amy that it's not one of Reiner's top three, but Reiner (pre-North) was one of the best directors of his era.

 

ETA: grammar.

[Action Doctor 0]

The is the most I've agreed with Amy in a while. Like she said, it's a nice, fine film but not one that I think belongs in the Canon.

 

Excluding The Sure Thing which I haven't seen in a long, long time; Stand By Me would be last for me in Reiner's amazing run that started with Spinal Tap in1984 and ended with A Few Good Men in'92.

[kubrickshines 15]

I've yet to see a really compelling argument as to why this film deserves to be in the Canon (beyond nostalgia and tears), so I'm going to try and offer one: this is the film for and about preteen boys. The characters depicted are aged 12-13 and look it; the bond they share, dialogue they use, etc. are all intended to realize this very specific age in boys' lives.

 

Now try and think of another film that conjures up that same age group as vividly. The Outsiders? Too old. The Goonies? Too goofy. Explorers? Flight of the Navigator? NeverEnding Story? The Lost Boys? The Sandlot? Mean Creek? Boyhood? None of these capture the bonds of young male friendship as well.

 

So, as a film, Stand By Me is good, not great, but as a cinematic document of particular era of boyhood, Stand By Me is truly unique. The question then becomes: does uniqueness, on its own, merit inclusion into the Canon?

[DannyHutch 0]

For whatever reason, I feel absolutely nothing when I watch this movie. It feels like a fairly bland movie about a bunch of kids doing some things. However, every single one of my male friends gets a major hard on for this film. Like they seriously want to slap some skins with it. So I'm voting yes. It has had a major impact in enough people's lives to be canon, even if that life is not necessarily my own.

[JeffreyMcDonald 65]

I'd much rather them make a streamlined, focused movie about boyhood than try to shoehorn in girl characters -- which, for the purposes of a coming-of-age film, often do little more than adding a sexual awakening for the boys and are rarely their own persons in any meaningful way.

 

Very well put. Cheers