In the summer of 1985, the town of Brownsville, Oregon (population 1,261 per the 1980 census) earned its place in cinema history, and an eventual spot on the Oregon Film Trail, when the cast and crew of a movie then titled The Body came to town for several weeks. Leading that cast were four young actors who went on to stardom, some at a huge cost: River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and, in the lead role of Gordie Lachance, a kid who turned thirteen that summer named Wil Wheaton. Wheaton would, of course, go on to a career that has included Star Trek, The Big Bang Theory, and a raft of other podcasts, web series, films, audio books, comics, memoirs, and more.
Heading up that crew in 1985 Brownsville, filming location for the world’s most over-the-top vomit scene (take that, Monty Python!), was director Rob Reiner. Stand by Me, which the movie would be retitled prior to release, was Reiner’s third feature following the improvisatory, absurd This Is Spinal Tap and the teen romcom The Sure Thing, and it established him as a filmmaker who could tackle heavy dramatic elements in a serious but crowd-pleasing manner. Misery, A Few Good Men, Ghosts of Mississippi, and other award-caliber films would not have been entrusted to the guy famous for playing Meathead on TV and introducing us to England’s fourth-loudest band without the success of Stand by Me.
Like so much of Reiner’s work, it has only improved with age. Following it up with The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally… is about as good a five-film run as anyone’s ever had. So, the idea of a 40th anniversary tour, screening the film across the country with in-person appearances from its stars, was only natural. That tour, which touches down in Portland at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Sunday, March 29, has acquired an elegiac tone following the tragic and senseless deaths of Reiner and his wife, photographer Michele Singer, late last year. It also, though, as Wheaton discussed during a video interview with Oregon ArtsWatch, provides an opportunity for him and other cast members to recognize the genius of the man who helped launch their careers and the film that continues to entertain and move audiences to this day…