SLFS Summer Showdown: Stand by Me vs. Pretty in Pink

I’m not exactly sure what the Salt Lake Film Society was thinking when they put Stand by Me (Rob Reiner, The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap) and Pretty in Pink (John Hughes, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles)against each other, except that they’re both classic ‘80s movies. I like to think, though, that they put their heads together and said, “What movies would Braxtyn be so stoked to see?”

When I was 12, I was facing the biggest challenge in a young person’s life (the seventh grade), having troubles at home and only had one friend. There were two things I kept returning to for comfort: emo music and ‘80s movies. I would hang out in my basement every weekend and watch the same coming-of-age Brat Pack films over and over and over again. These two were both heavy in my rotation, so it’s going to be difficult to choose a champion. 

Stand by Me falls into the category that I like to call “kids on bikes.” There are no bikes in this movie, but maybe the bikes are the friends we made along the way. Basically, the genre includes a group of young, mid-century boys navigating the loss of their innocence in the face of something spooky.

When Vern (the scaredy-cat) (Jerry O’Connell, Sliders, My Secret Identity) is under his porch looking for his lost jar of pennies (as one does), he overhears his older brother talking about how he saw the body of a young boy who’s been missing for days, Ray Bauer, but does not want to report it because he found it while driving a stolen car. Vern tells his friends, Teddy (the eccentric) (Corey Feldman, The Lost Boys, The Goonies), Chris (the bad boy) (River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho, Running on Empty) and Gordon (the tortured artist) (Wil Wheaton, Star Trek: The Next Generation), and they decide to go on a quest to find the body, turn it in and become heroes.

The boys face many obstacles on their way to the body, like a junkyard dog on a mission to bite off their balls, a pond full of leeches on a mission to suck blood from their balls and the leader of a local gang of teenage thugs, Ace (Kiefer Sutherland, The Lost Boys, Young Guns). The film comes to its climax when Gordon, typically the shy and sensitive one, points a gun at Ace in defense of the body. The untouchable Ace backs down, and they decide to leave the body where it is, placing an anonymous tip about its location rather than basking in fame and glory for its discovery. 

While Stand by Me portrays heavy themes like grief and immortality, Pretty in Pink addresses equally important issues, like the prom. Okay, it’s admittedly a much less interesting and compelling story. Hey, there are some almost interesting conversations about class. But really, the saving grace of the film is Duckie Dale — “You know, the best friend, the scene stealer, some would say the true star of the film?” I’m quoting John Cryer in the Halloween episode of Two and a Half Men, but considering the deep, deep admiration and connection I feel for Duckie, I’m inclined to agree. 

As Andie (Molly Ringwald, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles) approaches her high school graduation, she has much to think about: What will I do after high school? Who will take me to the prom? Will it be my totally awesome best friend of ten years who’s madly in love with me or some rich kid? 

Okay, I don’t hate Blane (Andrew McCarthy, Weekend at Bernie’s, St. Elmo’s Fire): he’s cute and nice, and his crush on Andie was apparent from the get-go. But when he takes her to a party full of his friends who constantly harass her for being alternative as a first date, it becomes clear that he does not understand her. Blane was not the only one who made a mistake that night; can someone explain to me why Andie didn’t even bother to tell Duckie about her date with Blane before he just shows up to pick her up from work and is bombarded by the biggest rejection of his life?

Despite differing social classes, Andie and Blane’s love blossoms. Until he suddenly ghosts her and lies to her by saying he “asked someone else to the prom a month ago and forgot”??? So, she takes two beautiful dresses, Frankensteins them into something underwhelming and goes to the prom anyway, “to let them know they didn’t break me.” There, she finds Duckie waiting for her, and they look so damn good together, finally reunited. But in the end, she still runs back into the arms of Blane, who apparently “always believed in her,” and the film ends with the two kissing in the rain. 

Damn, that review makes me sound like someone who hates Pretty in Pink, which is confusing considering how much fun I had while watching it. I guess the plot is not great, but the vibes are excellent. While I went into this thinking it would be difficult to pick a winner, it has become increasingly obvious that Stand by Me is the superior film. I guess you never have friends like the ones you had when you were 12. —Braxtyn Birrell

Read more film reviews by Braxtyn Birrell:
SLFS Summer Showdown: Hedwig and the Angry Inch vs. Velvet Goldmine
Secondhand Screenings Presents: Guilty Pleasures

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