Stand By Me is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and it is something of a rarity when it comes to Stephen King adaptations. Hollywood is no stranger to adapting the works of King, particularly when it comes to his more horror-and-thriller titles. It’s a well that producers and filmmakers keep coming back to, and they even return to the same ones, with classic King books like Pet Sematary, Carrie, The Shining, and It all having received multiple reimaginings across film and TV.
A Grounded Departure from King’s Usual Oeuvre
But Rob Reiner’s film remains an outlier, as it always has when considering King adaptations. Based on his short novella The Body, published in 1982, you’d even be forgiven for not realising it’s a King adaptation at all, with the work a much more grounded affair than the horror master’s usual oeuvre. It still has a darkness running through it; the story of a group of young boys heading out on a hike to find a dead body is certainly a macabre set-up, but it’s remained timeless, with generations continually coming back to it, despite it operating as a nostalgia piece for the 1950s with its period setting.
It was a modest hit upon release, and it didn’t win a ton of awards (it got one Oscar nomination for its screenplay). Yet it has persisted over the years, more so than more successful and more lauded movies of its era. Why does it continue to endure, even for someone like me who grew up far away from the small-town America of its setting and was born in the 1990s – and who very much considers the movie one of my all-time favourites?
Authenticity: The Key to Its Timeless Appeal
It can be difficult to explain why something just works, particularly something as seemingly unassuming as Stand By Me. But it does ultimately come down to one key factor, something that all storytelling aims to achieve in some way or another: authenticity. Much of the film’s success comes from its genuine sense of character and emotion; so many things have to go right to achieve it. It’s lightning in a bottle.
That’s why Stand By Me remains the only version of The Body. It is one of the purest forms of lightning in a bottle in cinema. To attempt to recapture that is daunting, and something of a fool’s errand. It has become undeniable and untouchable.
Growing Up with the Film
That level of authenticity is why it continues to resonate across generations; the film grows up with you as the years roll by thanks to its well-observed characters. It is one of the rare films that gets better with age. Watching Stand By Me at 12 years old is a very different experience to watching it in your 30s. I remember responding most to the camaraderie amongst the boys, a group of perfectly cast young actors made up of Gordie (Wil Wheaton), Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman) and Vern (Jerry O’Connell) when first encountering it.
There’s great charm in seeing the levels of conversation amongst the group, with the balance of the drama and humour exhibited across the group, from Gordie’s shaken foundation following the death of his brother, to Chris having an understanding of the world that is far beyond his years, all the while Teddy and Verne continue to have more juvenile discussions over such topics as who is more powerful, Mighty Mouse or Superman. Coming to it later in life, the sense of grief that surrounds the characters, particularly Gordie, or the tragedy of Chris’ fate echoing the real-life death of Phoenix at just 23 years old, is much more palpable.
Watching it this year was the first time I had seen it since my dad passed away. Having the memory of the film so tied to my dad gave Gordie’s struggles with grief a completely new dimension, hitting me in a way it never has before, which just goes to demonstrate the film’s unique ability to evolve with time and experience.
A Film That Feels Dangerous and Honest
Much like any of us, the film is in a constant flux of coming of age. The moments of childhood innocence still ring with humour and warmth, but the stark reality that surrounds the young boys’ lives, and the harsh realities that come simply from growing up, feel much more potent and all the more achingly felt once you yourself have experienced more of life, and the tragedies and grief that unfortunately come part and parcel with the privilege of getting older.
It also feels dangerous. These kids on the cusp of adulthood are dealing with the reality of a world that is already beating down their parents, with all of them feeling the wake of it in a variety of different ways, from outright abuse to neglect, finding strength in their friendships and revelling in the safety of a space to have the kind of talk that seems really important before you discover girls.
Much of why the film endures comes from this set of young actors, well picked and nurtured by the great filmmaker Rob Reiner, who made sure that the boys had a good, extensive period of time to hang out and get to know each other before the cameras started to roll. Reiner’s directorial style is unintrusive and gentle, staging well-placed gags and letting the performances have the space to connect with the audience. Reiner’s own tragic death earlier this year also adds another element of pathos to the film’s key lesson: life is hard, and it can be unfair. The only way through it is by being true to yourself and finding people along the way who can help you out.
Why a Remake Would Be a Fool’s Errand
It is hard to imagine a remake of Stand By Me for several reasons. For one, it’s difficult to picture a modern version of the story working (I can’t imagine it with a smartphone). But it ultimately comes down to: why would you want to try, when the original itself still rings out across generations?
It’s arguably Reiner’s best film, coming in amongst an unimpeachable run of brilliant movies in the 80s. It’s also in the conversation for the best Stephen King adaptation, alongside Reiner’s other King adaptation, Misery. In a documentary for the film’s 25th anniversary, King himself even stated it’s the most successful translation to film of any of his books. Who are we to disagree with the man himself?
Stand By Me is available to stream on Sky, Now Cinema and Paramount Plus.
