What’s Aged the Best?
Jerry O'Connell; young Kiefer; leeches; the game of chicken; the busboys quote; kids smoking; the narration; childhood urban legends; timelessness; Jack Nitzsche score
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:42Read transcript
- Fat Jerry O'Connell ages well, given he later married Rebecca Romijn Stamos and played Cush; his nuanced part is the sneaky best of the four on repeat viewings.
- Young Kiefer ages well given his later career: engaged to Julia Roberts, winning the Dion Waiters Award for A Few Good Men as Kendrick, and Jack Bauer; this role is his Lost Boys villain without the vampire.
- Leeches always work and make viewers squirm; a Little League groin injury anecdote follows.
- The old-school game of chicken; one participant admits to drag races in high school.
- The narrator's line that friends come in and out of your life like busboys.
- Kids smoking: they embrace smoking's nuances, the pack rolled in the white tee, and Zippo work; smoking then is likened to video games for today's kids.
- The story-within-a-story nesting and Richard Dreyfuss's narration as older Gordy, such as Vern's pennies; narration usually signals a flaw, but Stand By Me, Shawshank and Goodfellas do it best.
- Childhood urban legends and mythology, with stories mutating among 12-year-olds and jinxes, which the internet has changed.
- The movie is timeless: set in 1959 with distance, it captures the era, down to the clothes and the radio DJ.
- The score and the classical version of the title song are added; 'Good call.'