Stand By Me is one of my all time favorite movies. I’m watching it as I write this entry.

The movie revolves around 4 boys going on a journey to find a dead kid’s body. Yet the body itself is only part of the movie. Instead the movie is a coming of age movie where the kids learn much more about themselves and life. Funny and emotional at times, the movie comes full circle.

Gordie’s character is the central character in all this. The story is told from his point of view. Anything we know about the rest of the characters is due to Gordie. Gordie is a writer. What comes across in the movie “Stand By Me” is how one demensional Gordie’s parents are. We see no character development of them. And we don’t necessarily need to. They think about one thing only. How good their dead son Denny was. Consequentally Gordie is always in the shadow of his brother. Even when he died, he still is in his shadows. He’s forever known as “Denny LaChance’s brother.” Never the writer Gordie LaChance.

In this movie the character I most identify with is Vern Tessio, the misfit of the group. They really only let Vern come along with them because he originally knew where the body was. Deep down I think the rest of the boys like Vern as a friend, but they’d never really admit to it. Vern is careful and apprehensive. He needs friends probably more than any of the other boys.

Teddy is the troubled kid. Abused by his faither, yet somehow he still looks up to him. “Storming the beach at Normandy” is good enough for Teddy to always respect his father, even though his father was put into an insane asylum for trying to burn off Teddy’s ear on the stove.
Consequently Teddy seems to be overly concerned with proving himself. In one portion of the movie he tries to dodge a train. I think he is trying to prove something. Maybe about how courageous he can be…as if he could be like his father.

Chris Chambers is the leader of the group. Probably the most developed character of the group. He was branded as a shady character due to his brother’s reputation. Deep down he cares for his friends and he worries about his reputation. Chris wants to be the good guy in all this. He wants people to like him. He stuggles to come to grips with his future. Ultimately he does stick it out and makes a better life for himself. Sadly this life isn’t long lived as we find out later on in the movie.

The movie itself isn’t best for kids. The boys smoke in it and the languge is harsh enough to receive an “R” rating. I wish Stephen King wasn’t so vulgar. If it wasn’t so vulgar, the story would have been perfect at least.