Another review by my nine-year-old, ratings-conscious nephew Jordy...

“Stand By Me” is a film that is by Rob Reiner, a filmmaker who has made some great movies like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and much more. It is based off a short story by Stephen King called “The Body” (no wonder they changed the title; it sounds like a zombie book) and “Stand By Me” is the only movie where I think that the people that gave the movie the rating might have turned into a dull boy. “R”? What? Although I have to admit, it is quite inappropriate to see kids swear and smoke.

But “Stand By Me” is a great Rob Reiner movie because of the characters. It starts out with a guy sitting in a car with a newspaper that says that a man was stabbed by a knife and died. Then the guy, who starts narrating, says the first time he ever saw a dead body was on an adventure with his friends. So basically the whole plot is searching for a dead body.

The kids are all people who do bad things, yet you love these characters somehow, although it’s probably because they all stick out for each other. They also are funny sometimes. For example, one kid tells a story called “Lardass And The Pie-Eating Contest”, which has all the kid gags, yet it is fun for adults too. “Stand By Me” has a vast landscape that goes along with the movie the whole time, and some camera shots truly are some of the best that I’ve seen. For example, a shot of them walking with the sun setting in the background is beautiful. The actors are all great, and they manage to pull off roles as complex characters, while putting emotion into the sadness of the two main characters. I love how they all fool around with each other; they can be mean to each other, but they always stick out for each other, too. Because of that, you can tell they have a really good friendship. Also, even though they are on a dangerous journey (the dead body was presumably hit by a train), with the chance of getting hit by a train and all, they say that they are having a great time, which can tell you that they enjoy each other’s company, and that is another way to tell they have a great friendship.

That’s one of the movies main themes: friendship. It definitely is a powerful thing, that’s for sure. The adventure scenes are spectacular, including a scene where they have to run from the train. In fact, the only thing I don’t like about the movie is that sometimes it doesn’t make sense, although it’s so minor, you don’t care. (This is supposed to be a real story in the movie, you know!) In the ending, the narrator says that his best friend was the one who was stabbed by the knife, and that even though the friends are separate, he never had better friends then the ones on that adventure. Once you turn off the movie, you get a very powerful feeling: sympathy. You feel sympathetic for some of the characters, and that’s something only a great movie can do. Rob Reiner, well done: you’ve created a masterpiece.

Rating: 99%

Okay For: 13+

Jordan Muschler, 2011