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Stand by Me poster

Stand by Me

89 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Wil Wheaton Gordie Lachance
River Phoenix Chris Chambers
Corey Feldman Teddy Duchamp
Jerry O'Connell Vern Tessio
Kiefer Sutherland Ace Merrill
Casey Siemaszko Billy Tessio
Gary Riley Charlie Hogan
Bradley Gregg Richard "Eyeball" Chambers
Jason Oliver Vince Desjardins
Marshall Bell Mr. Lachance
Frances Lee McCain Mrs. Lachance
Bruce Kirby Mr. Quidacioluo (store owner)
William Bronder Milo Pressman (junkyard owner)
Scott Beach Mayor Grundy
Richard Dreyfuss The Writer (adult Gordie)
John Cusack Denny Lachance
Popeye Chopper
Matt Williams Bob Cormier
Andy Lindberg David "Lard-Ass" Hogan

Stand by Me | The Rewatchables

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Producer credits not yet identified.

Casting What-Ifs

Adrian Lyne directing; Corey Haim as Gordie or Chris; Sean Astin, Stephen Dorff or Ethan Hawke as Gordie; David Dukes, Ted Bessell or Michael McKean as the adult narrator

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:24Read transcript
  • The hosts say Adrian Lyne was going to direct, but Nine and a Half Weeks ran long; the jokes imagine Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke as Ace.
  • The hosts say Reiner saw nearly every young actor, was moved by Phoenix reading for Chris, and wondered about him as Gordy or Chris.
  • The hosts say Corey Haim auditioned for Gordy, the studio wanted him as Chris, and he turned it down to make Lucas; Haim would have been okay, but Wil Wheaton remains the first choice.
  • The hosts read that Sean Astin, Stephen Dorff and Ethan Hawke were considered for Gordy; Hawke, the bookish kid in Explorers, would have been good.
  • The hosts say David Dukes, Ted Bessell and Michael McKean preceded Dreyfuss for the adult Gordy; the hosts say a Dukes scene was shot and his far-away shot remains.
  • The hosts say the film was long called The Body until Columbia refused the title; calling it The Body would have been a mistake.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Cast bonding period; Brownsville pie-scene filming; trestle location; long-lens train shot; Singleton homages; Dreyfuss quote; Wheaton's slowed run; $2.37

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:57Read transcript
  • The hosts relay O'Connell's account that the boys hung out and played games for two weeks without rehearsing and that Rob was great with kids.
  • The hosts say the barf-o-rama was filmed in Brownsville, Oregon, with pies from a local bakery and filling mixed with large-curd cottage cheese.
  • The hosts place the trestle at a California lake near a memorial state park, prompting a Rewatchables pandemic road-trip joke.
  • The hosts say a 600-millimeter long lens compressed the image so the distant train looked right behind the boys.
  • The hosts relay that Singleton loved Stand By Me and put homages in Boys in the Hood (as spoken), including four boys going to see a dead body and a closing fade-out.
  • Dreyfuss is quoted saying he barely remembers the film 30 years later; the hosts call him a prick who should take the W.
  • The hosts relay Wheaton's account that he was the weird kid of the four and got picked on by Corey during the shoot, and that he was faster than Phoenix but had to run slowly to lose their sprint.
  • The boys' pooled money totals $2.37, a Stephen King number like Room 237.

Picking Nits

Casual pace on the trestle; Chris outrunning Gordie; leech placement; surviving the train and the jump; Lard-Ass's unfinished pies

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:12:14Read transcript
  • On the trestle, they would go ahead of a crawling friend and should hustle rather than casually walk.
  • In the train race, Gordy seems to have the drop on Chris until Chris shows Carl Lewis speed.
  • How the leech reached Gordy's groin through jeans and underwear in two minutes is the biggest nit; the waistband is offered as an answer.
  • They would not outrun that train, and the fall would kill them, yet they get right up.
  • Lard-Ass left a lot of pie while claiming to be done, and the DJ, Bob Cormier, took the pies more seriously.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The plan at the body; Castle Rock law enforcement; how Ace's gang found the body; Gordie's writing career

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:51Read transcript
  • What was either group's plan once they reached the body? Gordy's alibi plan is good, but Ace showing up with a body helps no one.
  • Where is law enforcement in Castle Rock?
  • How did Ace's gang members find a body that was not near anything?
  • Is Ace allowed to roam town unchecked, like Brad Wesley in Roadhouse?
  • What is Gordy's writing career like, and how famous is he at 70 now? Jokes have him covering the Blazers for the Oregonian and joining The Athletic, or being Stephen King; a bestseller poster would have clarified his success.