THE MOVIE ANARCHIST

I’m writing this review as promised because of the death threats I received last night after I posted my 140 character review.  I also watched the movie again before writing this.  If you didn’t read my Twitter review, this is what I said:

“Stand by Me (1986) Finally watched it. For a film that’s character driven, it utterly fails to develop feelings for them. Poorly done. 3/9” *

It’s taken me 25 years to finally watch this movie, but not for lack of trying.  I’ve probably started watching it over a dozen times, but I never got past the first few scenes.  It just never pulled me in.

Recently I was looking at my DVD collection and realized that I didn’t have this one.  It seemed like a no-brainer that I had to own it because everything I’d read or been told about it was that it is one of the greatest stories ever told on film.  Needless to say I got it, and I finally watched it.  I was looking forward to good time.

First, a little trivia.  The movie takes place in a small town called Castle Rock which happens to be the name of the production company subsequently co-founded by Rob Reiner, the movie’s director.

SPOILER ALERT.  DON’T READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE.

As for the movie, I was incredibly disappointed because  I just didn’t care about any of the characters.  Maybe I would have felt differently if I had seen the film when I was younger, but I don’t think so.  I can endlessly watch films that develop honest emotions for their characters without changing how I feel about them.  Stand by Me isn’t one of those films.  And don’t think I’m a hard-ass or something… I’m a softy.  If there’s a feeling to be had for a character, I’ll feel it.  I’ll bet I cry more easily than John Boehner.  I even cried at the end of Sucker Punch (and I didn’t like the movie).

Stand by Me has the elements of a great movie with emotional impact, but the acting was sub-par and the character development was weak.  If I really knew how to properly develop a character I’d be making movies, but I know it when I see it.  I didn’t see it here, and that’s the rub.  The film gave me  a lot of second-hand information about the characters, but I saw very little of it.  Just knowing a character’s back-story is not the same as seeing it.

Should I feel something for Gordie because his father wouldn’t pass him the mashed potatoes or didn’t like his friends?   I understand that his dad liked his brother better, but nothing made care about it.  Considering the endless possibilities, if showing his father ignoring him at the dinner table is all you can come up with, you failed.  It’s not like it’s a new concept or something.

Jerry O’Connell was pretty good, but his character was not much more than comic relief and had little or no impact on the movie as a whole.

River Phoenix was clearly the best actor of the bunch, and frankly the only believable emotional connection in the movie was his love for Gordie.  His character was the one most likely to garner some “feelings,” but again, it was pretty weak.  All talk – no action.  And “boo hoo,” against all odds he studied hard in school and ultimately became a lawyer… but because of the type of guy he was he was stabbed and killed trying to break up a fight between some guys he didn’t even know.  Talk about a contrivance, it’s the very definition of it.

Stand by Me is only 89 minutes long.  Maybe if it were 101 minutes like The Sandlot (1993) it would have been better.  I don’t know, but I do know that the difference between the two movies is like night and day.  The Sandlot is a movie about kids told in a very similar fashion to Stand by Me, but it deserves every bit of the 8/9 rating I gave it.  You’ll feel something for every character because you’ll live it, you’re not just told about it.   Another film to see if you want to feel something for a group of kids who are best friends is Sleepers (1996).

The point is the makers of Stand by Me dropped the ball when it came to developing feelings for some promising characters.  The potential was certainly there.  I know my rating is harsh, but nothing about this movie would make me want me to see it again or recommend it to someone.  Like I said, I just didn’t care.

5/9

* I recognize that about 95% of those who saw this movie loved it.  I watched it a few more times and changed my rating to 5/9.  It’s OK, but still highly over-rated.

** This is what Robert McKee said about it in Adaptation (2002):  “…and God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you. That’s flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write a voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character.”