Stand by Me is a 1986 coming of age, adventure-drama film directed by Rob Reiner. The
title comes from a song with the same title by Ben E. King (which plays during the closing
credits), while the story itself is based on the novella The Body by Stephen King.
Plot
The film is narrated by an adult Gordie LaChance, known as "The Writer" (Richard Dreyfuss),
writing the memoir about his youth. Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Oregon, from
September 4-6, 1959, Gordie (Wil Wheaton), and his friends Chris Chambers (River Phoenix)
and Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) learn from their friend Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Connell) that
the dead body of a boy named Ray Brower, who was struck by a train while picking blueberries
in the woods, has been found. While under his porch looking for his lost jar of pennies, Vern
overheard his older brother talking about finding the body while in the woods with a friend. The
boys then embark upon a two-day journey across the woodlands near Castle Rock to see and
find the body in hopes that the discovery will make them all famous.
Each boy has a physical and/or emotional burden. Gordie is a quiet, bookish boy with a
penchant for telling stories and writing, rejected by his father following the death of his footballstar older brother (John Cusack) in a Jeep accident. Chris is from a family of criminals and
alcoholics and, despite his intelligence and desire to break the generational curse, he is usually
stereotyped accordingly. Teddy is an eccentric and physically deformed after his mentallyunstable father (whom Teddy sees as a war hero who "stormed the beach at Normandy") held
his ear to a stove and nearly burned it off, thus forcing him to wear a hearing aid. Vern,
overweight and timid, is easily scared, and thus often picked on.
Through the boys' misadventures and conversations, the viewer learns about each character's
personality. Each of the boys, for varying reasons, lives in the shadow of their fathers and older
brothers. Gordie's talent for storytelling pegs him as the most likely of the four to have a
promising future.
The film also contrasts a gang of bullies called the "Cobras", who are led by local hood John
"Ace" Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland). Crucial to the story are the often sophomoric interpersonal
exchanges among the four main characters.[1]. The boys find the body in the end, but decide to
leave it to the authorities to deal with. They also refuse to allow Ace take the body away after
Gordie threatens him with a gun.
The film ends with the boys returning home to Castle Rock and saying goodbye to each other.
The Writer states that Vern later married and became a fork-lift operator for a lumber company in
Castle Rock and Teddy tried to join the military, but due to poor eyesight and his ear they
refused to let him in, he eventually served jail time and now he was doing odd-jobs around
Castle Rock. Chris later moved out of Castle Rock and became a lawyer. However, The Writer
reveals that Chris was recently stabbed and killed when he tried to break up a fight in a line at a
fast food place. The Writer then finishes his memoir and takes his own kids out swimming.
Gordie's campfire story
During a scene where the boys are sitting around a campfire, Gordie tells a story about an
obese boy named Davie Hogan, but because of his weight everyone, including his family, calls
him "Lardass". All his life, Lardass has been beat-up and picked on until one day, the day of the
county fair pie eating contest, Lardass decided to get revenge. Lardass enters the contest
without admission and is harassed by the crowd as he takes the stage. However, just moments
earlier, Lardass drank a bottle of castor oil and swallowed a raw egg. During the contest,
Lardass imagines that the pies he is eating are filled with "rat guts" until it makes him sick
causing him to vomit on the person next to him. Eventually, it causes a "barf-o-rama" amongst
the crowd as Lardass happily watches.
Cast
Wil Wheaton
Gordie Lachance
River Phoenix
Chris Chambers
Corey Feldman
Teddy Duchamp
Jerry O'Connell
Vern Tessio
Kiefer Sutherland
John "Ace" Merrill
Casey Siemaszko
Billy Tessio
Gary Riley
Charlie Hogan
Bradley Gregg
Richard "Eyeball" Chambers
John Cusack
Denny Lachance
Marshall Bell
Mr. Lachance
Frances Lee McCain Mrs. Lachance
Bruce Kirby
Mr. Quidacioluo
Scott Beach
Mayor Grundy
Kent W. Lutrell
Ray Brower
Richard Dreyfuss
Gordie as an Adult/The Writer
Award nominations





Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay (Raynold Gideon & Bruce A. Evans)
WGA Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Raynold
Gideon & Bruce A. Evans)
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion
Pictures (Rob Reiner)
Golden Globe Award for Best Director (Rob Reiner)