Overview
Downtown Drive-In has released tickets to two extra screenings today, adding cult films Raising Arizona and Stand By Me to its popular program. And lucky for you, we have five double passes to giveaway so you can experience it first hand.
Boasting an outrageously talented cast of young actors, including River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland and John Cusack, few films have captured the magic or intransigence of youth better than Rob Reiner's nostalgic coming-of-age drama Stand By Me.
Adapted from Stephen King's autobiographical novella The Body, Stand By Me takes place in the summer of 1959 in a small, out of the way town in Oregon. With a full weekend at their disposal, four young boys embark on an adventure through the back roads of their community in search of a dead body rumoured to be hidden in the nearby swamp. It's a sort of 'road movie on foot', complete with significant rites of passage, ridiculous childhood hijinks and, occasionally, some deeply tender moments.
Richard Dreyfuss features as the film's narrator, reminiscing from the perspective of one of the boys now in his middle age. "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12," he observes at one point. "Jesus, does anyone?" – and therein lies the heart of Stand By Me. Each of the four boys carries with him the shame of some social stigma, be it abusive parents, physical deformity or simple obesity, yet as a group they're confident and unassailable, loved unconditionally by each other in a way not found back home or by the township.
Filmed almost thirty years ago, Stand By Me remains a poignant, moving and uplifting testimony to the capacity for friendship and the joy of childhood adventure.
Concrete Playground has five double passes to giveaway to see Stand By Me at Downtown Drive-In on December 1 at 9.30pm. To enter, just subscribe to Concrete Playground (if you haven't already) then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au
