Stand by Me

When I first came across King's novel Body, I immediately thought it would be worth adapting it into a screenplay from the first lines. And when I reached the passage with the dog at the dump, I remembered that someone else had already done it for me a long time ago, and that I had even seen the film and the scene where Chopper chases Gordie, even though it's not fatal and luckily the heroes don't suffer any consequences from it, often haunted me in childhood dreams. Fortunately, a successful and surprisingly fascinating film was made from this amazing source material, which will be understood by all those in whom there remains at least a hint of the melancholic and half-playful mood of the boys who are slowly finishing elementary school. Even in short scenes, it is possible to show the fateful bond with an older brother, and above all, the whole film literally shines with King's melancholic mood, which seemed to me to be the toughest challenge while reading the original book. Everything could have turned out badly if it weren't for the great child actors. Moralizing about young boys is always a tricky matter, but here, everything was brilliantly handled by fifteen-year-old River Phoenix, who convinced me that if it weren't for his tragic death, Americans could have a current acting genius. The icing on the cake is Kiefer Sutherland, who endowed the originally more or less routine villain Ace with such an aura that you will shiver when you look at him. In the end, the source material remains unbeaten, but the film was able to capture its most precious aspect - the mood it evokes and which will stay with the viewer for a long time. (16/03/2007)

I first saw Stand by Me a long, long time ago, before I’d even read the original short story by King (I didn’t notice that I knew the story until the separate scenes of the movie started to unfold in front of me) and I really liked it. Now, god knows how many years later, almost nothing has changed. Maybe just that I savored it more and enjoyed seeing the young Kiefer “Jack Bauer" Sutherland in the role of Ace. The young actors put on amazing performances, most of all River Phoenix, who is no longer with us. This really is one of the best adaptations of a King book. (05/04/2008)

At first glance, a terribly inconspicuous film, just like Stephen King's inconspicuous novel, but when you look closely and let yourself be carried away by the story of a few boys, you realize how strong and beautiful the drama actually is, just like an example of how different it is to be a child and an adult. It's almost like gambling. What will this boy become? No, it cannot be said when he is twelve or younger. (11/01/2016)

Beautiful. I love the premise and I'm delighted that it managed to come to life so well thanks to all the boys and Rob Reiner. I was wondering how the ending could have moved me so much when almost nothing actually happens in it... And it's probably that I was just moved by the whole film, and merely saving it for the end. (20/07/2020)

A bunch of youngsters who, a couple of years later, became normal actors, got together here in a pretty solid form and experienced a very extraordinarily ordinary adventure, which I will probably never forget. A great movie adventure done in the American way that reminded me of my childhood, which only adds to it. Nobody makes these ordinary children’s adventures anymore… a pity. (28/04/2016)