1986 buddy/coming-of-age movieRating: 16/20
Plot: Four boys in Oregon lie to their parents and go on an adventure to look for a dead kid.
First off, this movie isn't very believable at all. I've seen what happens to people who pull guns on Kiefer Sutherland, and I don't buy that Wil Wheaton's fate would be any different.
This movie has a special place in my heart for a couple reasons, both sentimental. When I watch it, I can't help reminiscing about my own adolescence since I grew up in the 1950s and frequently walked around with my idiot friends looking for dead bodies and cussing up a storm and pulling leeches off each other's nutsacks. Also, I was twelve when this movie came out, and I went to see it with three of my friends--Scott, Maurizio, and Vernon--and it was very easy for us to connect with the characters. I liked the fun oldies music, the loose and episodic plot structure, and the rapport the four friends have. I liked how the tone could change so smoothly from reflective and meditative to comical to adventurous and then back again. These boys had the same kinds of problems and feelings that I had but would probably never talk about with my friends. They had better hair and access to cigarettes, but other than that, I felt like I could have been one of these kids. As you know from reading this blog (I'm talking to 2 1/2 of you here), I like movies where characters walk around and do nothing. Unless they're Hobbits, I guess. This is a good one of those, and it only has one pointless tale about pie eating and only slightly goes overboard with the sentimentality a little bit. Here's an example of quality child acting by the way. Wheaton, Phoenix, O'Connell, and Feldman aren't exactly realistic 1950's teenagers, at least the way I imagine 1950's teenagers to be, but I did believe them as teenagers. It's a shame that River Phoenix and Jerry O'Connell both died so young because either one of them would have been perfect in the sequel to Teen Wolf. A nice little Hollywood movie. I should call up Scott, Maurizio, and Vernon and have a little reunion and watch this movie actually. Unfortunately, one of them got hit by a train. Another might be in jail.
I remember vividly the day I walked to the mall to see this with my best friend. I loved it so much. Still have the soundtrack on vinyl. Unfortunately I remember later walking to the mall to see The Lost Boys and stopping and smoking a bunch of Lucky Strikes in Wendy's. I blame this movie for that and all subsequent cigarettes.
ReplyDeleteI was waiting for Cory or Barry to say something about this one. They would have been the wrong age when this came out but far too young for the whole growing-up-in-the-50s thing to appeal to them.
ReplyDeleteYeah, cigarettes are bad, man. They're what killed River Phoenix and Jerry O'Connell!
I missed it when it came out, and by the time I got around to seeing it, it was already a "thing". "Stand By Me" is fine, but the kids are a little unlikeable, and the film feels kind of full of itself and by-the-numbers. A 14.
ReplyDeleteWell, I really disagree with the by-the-numbers thing. I guess I can see how the kids are unlikable, but as a professional educator, I can tell you that almost all kids are unlikable.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by the film feeling full of itself though? Just curious.
I didnt see this in the theater, and like Cory, by the time I got around to it on a VHS tape, it was already a well known movie. I liked it more than Cory, and give it a 16. Another good movie, but not great one.
ReplyDeleteThe "by-the-numbers" and "full of itself" come from the feeling that the film is very conscious of it's purpose in making a coming of age film with these stock character types. It's a fine movie. I probably just expected more. Your opinion of kids amuses me.
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