Standby Me (1986)

I wish I had come to this movie earlier, I think I would have appreciated it more. Based on the 1982 Stephen King novella The Body, Stand by Me is a well mounted, nostalgic coming of age piece helmed capably by Rob Reiner and featuring an impressive cast of teen actors. The best thing about this movie are those four central actors, its teens playing teens and that is exactly what this movie needed. Lose, rambling chemistry, lite juvenile reality to be counterpointed with the heaver, poignant and existential stuff. River Phoenix is probably best and most memorable in this, but now I finally get a sense of the talent people saw in a young Will Wheaton. Though rated R it feels perfectly suited to young teens, and might prove a good introduction to films with  heavy undercurrents. ***