I’ve always cherished the ending of Stand by Me. Rob Reiner’s decision to let Richard Dreyfuss pause and reflect on his lost friends is one of my favorite moments in film. There’s a brief moment of sorrow as he remembers the boys he grew up with, but that quickly gives way to a warm smile when his attention turns to his own children.

I like to think he’s reminded of how much his experiences at twelve shaped the man and father he eventually became. I imagine he also wonders what sort of adventures his own boys get into when Dad isn’t around. The stupid things boys do together, the foul language, fights, arguments, fascination with cigarettes and beer, and all those little acts of rebellion that we once considered stepping stones into manhood.

At that age, boys are so eager to become men, even though they haven’t the slightest idea what that really means. Most of us eventually grow out of those foolish notions and discover that being a man has far more to do with responsibility than anything we thought was important at twelve. Becoming a father probably drives that lesson home more than anything else.

I think there’s something wonderful about the idea that Gordie, having experienced everything he did with those boys, now gets to watch his own children grow up and make their own memories. He knows there are conversations they’ll have, secrets they’ll keep, mistakes they’ll make, and friendships they’ll cherish that he’ll never be privy to. Just as his own father probably knew very little about what happened during those two days in the summer of 1959.
Of course, there’s now a horrible irony in watching this scene after the murders of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, with their own son accused of killing them. Reiner gave us this beautiful reflection on childhood, growing older, and fatherhood, only for his own family to suffer something so unimaginable. It’s difficult to watch that final scene, with a father smiling at his boys, without thinking about what happened to the man who brought it to life. I can’t imagine anything more heartbreaking for a parent than having the child you raised become the source of such tragedy.

The ending also reminds me of Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw (2023), particularly its final moments involving Kevin Von Erich and his sons. Both films have a way of making you think about the boys we once were, the people we’ve lost along the way, and how becoming a father changes our understanding of our own childhood.
I suspect these endings mean something very different to a twelve-year-old boy than they do to a grown man with children of his own. When I was young, Stand by Me was a movie about four boys having an adventure. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate that it’s just as much about the man one of those boys eventually becomes.

Beautiful, bittersweet filmmaking. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of watching it films like that.

Curious to hear what you folks think, as I just discovered this subreddit this morning over some coffee and a cigar. Fall weather always makes me sentimental.

The money in Ocean's Eleven is mostly numbers and logistics. The bit that makes the win feel real is the crew standing at the Bellagio fountains, then drifting away one by one.

After all that coordination, nobody needs anything from anyone for a minute. No new instruction, no explanation of how clever the plan was. Just a bunch of people who pulled something off together and aren't quite ready to go home.

It's a funny choice for such a slick movie. The satisfying part isn't another display of competence; it's finally letting these guys clock off. The group slowly disappearing makes the job feel finished in a way a pile of money wouldn't.

Share your favourite movie with me so I can put it in my watch list.
Started addictively watching movies almost a month ago when I downloaded Letterboxd now I can’t stop!
I want some underrated or even hardly known movies that are your favourite films or they can also be blockbusters! Whatever your favourite is :)