The Return of a Coming of Age Classic: Stand by Me’s 40th Anniversary
Olivia Romesburg ‘27 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
On March 27th, the classic 80s coming-of-age flick Stand by Me returned to theaters for its 40th anniversary. Directed by the late Rob Reiner, the film — based on Stephen King’s short story “The Body” — stars actors such as Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connel, and Kiefer Sutherland. Be prepared for spoilers ahead as we dive into the inner workings of this beloved film.
But Stand by Me wasn’t always Stand by Me. In fact, “The Body” was originally the title for the film, and Reiner changed the title because he felt it was too misleading.
One day he witnessed Sutherland teaching Phoenix how to play “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King on the guitar, and the name of the film was born — fitting, given its killer soundtrack of late 50s and 60s classics (which includes the title track).
The film takes place in and around the small town of Castle Rock, Oregon in the year 1959, as now-grown writer Gordie Lachance recalls a childhood adventure with his friends Chris Chambers, Vern Tessio, and Teddy Duchamp. The adventure in question? Searching for the dead body of a missing boy named Ray Brower.
As the boys embark on a two-day walking expedition to find Brower, we learn a lot about their lives — notably, how Gordie’s brother (who alone supported his writing) died in a car crash a few months prior. We watch him grieve throughout the film and ultimately discover that he needs to see the dead body as closure for never seeing his brother’s.
As the story continues we start to see more and more of the B-plot of the film, which involves Vern’s brother Billy, Chris’s brother “Eyeball”, and bully Ace Merril ultimately going on their own quest to find and retrieve the body. While both groups arrive around the same time, Gordie scares the older boys off by pulling out a gun that Chris brought on the adventure just in case. Subsequently, the search party decides to leave Brower’s body there, as he looks at peace.
On the journey home, the boys discuss how things will be different when they head off to middle school, where they are in different classes. Adding to this melancholy is Gordie’s voiceover, which reveals, retrospectively, that Chris would eventually die trying to break up a fight at a fast food place.
In 1985, as Gordie writes about how nothing was ever the same after that childhood journey, he recites arguably the film’s most famous line of dialogue: “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
“Stand by Me” is a classic coming of age film for a reason, in its wise examination of memory, life changes, and loss of innocence. Watch and savor it if you can, and remember to live in the moment and cherish the moment you are in.
Or, as Teddy says: “I’m in the prime of my youth and I’ll only be young once!”