There’s no triumphant spirit here; there's no victory... Whatever this once was, it’s not coming back. It’s not morning in America. [Stand by Me] is a eulogy.

Stand by Me remains one of the loveliest and most devastating films ever made about the loss of childhood.

The resulting adventure -- bizarre, mysterious and moving -- is about lost youth and the recovery of innocence through writing and memory. It is also one of those vanishingly rare films where child actors have to carry almost the entire drama.

Direct Rob Reiner demonstrates his accurate feel for the way kids talked and thought back then, but the story takes on the appeal of "The Breakfast Club on the Road."