You know, fondness is a funny thing. You can be fond of something, say, a movie, or a song, and it stays with you long after the last frame dims, long after the last note fades. In your memory, a work of art can become better and better, and sometimes better in your memory than in real life. Stand by Me is not like that. This is a movie I enjoyed 15 years ago, and I enjoyed it the other night just as much. As an added bonus, a friend of mine at work loaned me the original Stephen King short story (“The Body”, in a collection called Different Seasons, a collection of 4 novellas that also includes “Rita Heyworth and the Shawshank Redemption” which also became a movie).
I am impressed with “The Body”, or should I say its transformation into the movie. It seems to me novellas are infinitely better suited than novels for adaptation into screenplays. Many of the films’ lines of dialog, narration, and stage direction are taken word for word from the original text. If you haven’t seen the movie, or haven’t seen it in a while, I encourage you to have a look.
I also encourage you to think about the deer for a moment. Extra credit. 10 points.
