Stand By Me

Screening as part of These Go to 11: The Films of Rob Reiner

Free movies on the Enzian lawn!

Wednesday Night Pitcher Shows are FREE and open to the public. Keep an eye on our Facebook for information about rescheduled shows due to weather. Free overflow parking is available at Park Maitland School and Peach Valley across the street. Outside food & beverage is not permitted.

Want a reserved spot on the lawn with a bucket of beer and popcorn?  We have a limited number of exclusive picnic baskets for sale! 

Stand By Me:

40^th Anniversary!

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” – The Writer

Released in 1986, Stand by Me marked a pivotal moment in the career of director Rob Reiner, revealing a tender, humanistic side that expanded his reputation beyond broad comedy. Based on Stephen King’s novella The Body, the film draws on post-war pop culture and the universal heartache of growing up. In the late 1950s, four young friends set out on a journey to find the body of a missing teenage boy, not realizing that along the way their trek becomes a rite of passage, ultimately leading them to a crossroads in their own adolescence.

Nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay, Reiner’s film introduced a remarkable ensemble of actors—Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell—whose deep introspective performances grounded the story in emotional authenticity, with Phoenix’s turn in particular standing as one of the most poignant of the era. Guided by Reiner’s restrained, compassionate direction, Stand by Me avoids sentimentality while honoring the fragility of youth.

These Go to 11: The Films of Rob Reiner

Rob Reiner emerged as one of Hollywood’s most versatile and influential directors during a remarkable decade-long run beginning in the mid-1980s. Reiner, the son of iconoclastic author/comedian/director and screenwriter Carl Reiner, transitioned from acting (famously as Mike “Meathead” Stivic on CBS’ All in the Family) to directing in 1984. 

That year, Reiner broke through with the pioneering mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, redefining screen comedy with an absurdist take on rock star puerility. He followed with a string of genre-defining hits: the road trip teen movie The Sure Thing (1985), the nostalgia-fueled classic Stand by Me (1986), the ultimate storybook-story The Princess Bride (1987), and the “I’ll have what she’s having” touchstone When Harry Met Sally… (1989). Reiner continued to defy categorization with the chilling adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery (1990) and the courtroom drama A Few Good Men (1992) for which he received a long-overdue Oscar® nomination (as Producer). Together, these films cemented Reiner’s reputation as a director capable of mastering tone, character, and genre with an unheard-of consistency. 

In many ways Reiner occupies a strikingly similar place in the legacy of American film as that of Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, It’s a Wonderful Life…).  Both function as chroniclers of national character, using popular genres to articulate what America believes about itself at any given moment. Capra focused on an aspirational landscape often by reflecting the child-like innocence of his protagonists. Reiner’s heroes are rarely naïve; they are wounded, ironic, and self-aware with Reiner serving as a post-Vietnam Capra: not as a builder of national myths, but as a custodian of them, revisiting America’s stories after innocence has faded and asking what still remains at the twilight’s last gleaming.

_{1986, 89 minutes, USA, Directed by Rob Reiner, Rated R}