Stand By Me film review

By watching stand by me, I noticed a number of things in the film that made the film work.

A scene I think that worked well would be the scenes that showed the characters on their journey. Following the boys talking about people the knew, the town they lived in, and the surrounding areas. They were just going about their days and looking forwards to the outcome pf their journey. This could contrast with the older generation who spent a lot of their childhood doing the same, so this will relate to the audience.

A exciting scene was when Vern and Gordie was trying to escape the train hitting them. This was excitable as it posed a threat to the characters life which leaves the audience wondering if this is the last time they will see the characters, what the other characters will do after that, what the character's family will say and do and how with they get from being hit to the boys coming home.

The best-written scene would be at the start of the film when all the characters are in the treehouse, playing cards and making jokes when Vern comes in and tells them about the body. They all show their excitement and discuss going on the journey and finding the body. This establishes within the first 10 minutes (or so) where the plot of the story is going and how the film is now set to run.

The most memorable scene in my opinion was the story scene which showed lardass and the eating contest. This was memorable as it was a funny scene that was slightly crazy and unrealistic. This makes the scene remain in the audience's heads.

Representation of men

Nearly all of the characters in Stand by Me are male. The characters are in stand by me are often represented in different ways.

Stereotypically, men are represented as being "strong" and "masculine" and stand by me does a good job at showing this by having a range of characters act this way, but also shows the characters at a more emotional state. For example, the character of Gordie is shown as being a very stereotypical boy (likes going on adventures, playing with his friends, telling storys) however later in the film we learn that Gordies older brother passed away and that he is struggling to cope with his death. He opens up to Chris and breaks down in tears.

We could then compare this to when both of the boy groups meet up whilst searching for the body, they have a "stand-off". Both sides are reasoning to why they should be the first to tell anybody about the body, however, as they try to become more dominant over the situation Ace pulls out a knife and Gordie pulls out his gun. They both back off of the situation as neither wants to get hurt. This could show how both groups of men want to be in control of the situation (having strength and power) but inevitably step back knowing deep down its the best thing to do. This shows that in this particular scene men have been represented as being controlling but also with a fragile side.