Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Wendy's Films of 2010 #82: Stand By Me (1986)

As an 80s classic meant to make you feel good and leave you reminiscing about your own childhood, Stand By Me fulfilled my every expectation. It didn't really provide any surprises, but it did what I think it meant to do. The story goes that a group of boys decides to find the body of a kid that went missing. They embark on a journey that brings them closer together and makes memories that will last a lifetime. Each kid actor (including Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell) gives a pretty solid performance, and with a few key scenes like the puking tale and the leech incident it's a pretty memorable film overall. My one shock, however, was in discovering that it ranked at number 157 on IMDb's Top 250 list. I wasn't expecting that one, as much as I can appreciate the love others have for it. I don't think I could be persuaded to agree with that position or any position in the Top 250 films of all time, even if someone spent an entire afternoon arguing for its sake. Sometimes people's tastes shock me, though my favourite films certainly don't adhere to what most consider the best films of all time. Anyway, I liked the film, though not enough to warrant a recommendation. It's nice, but not particularly special to me, you might love it though!

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