Stand By Me

The 1986 Rob Reiner film, 'Stand By Me' stars Whil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell in an adventure that turns these young boys into men. Gordie (Wheaton), Chris (Phoenix), Teddy (Feldman) and Verne (O'Connell) are young adolescent boys that embark on an adventure to find the body of a missing teenager. Verne finds out through eavesdropping, that his brother found the body in the woods, and the 4 boys camp out and spend 2 whole days searching for this missing boy just to be looked at as 'heroes.'

This was the first time I had ever seen this movie in full, and I was suprised at how heartfelt some of the scenes and characters were. I thought it was similar to the other classic 80s adventure flick, 'The Goonies' which also stars Corey Feldman. But this film, had heart. It had friendship, it had bonds that you don't think could ever be broken because of what these boys endure.

I thought the acting was great. All of these main actors went on to star in numerous amounts of projects. I also  couldn't belive Keifer Sutherland, his performance was great as Ace Merrill the highschool jerk who likes to pick on and bully younger kids. I was also suprised at John Cusack's small role as Gordie's older brother who died in a car accident.

I can definitely understand why this film is thought of today as a classic. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys watching young boys embarking on an unforgettable journey and deals with the ups and downs of life. It's got heart, friendship and guts.