Stand By Me may bethe only movie to effectively pull off the "and here's what happened to the characters later" ending, which usually feels too neat and trite. The gorgeous juxtaposition of the young Chris (River Phoenix) and the voiceover detailing his much later death is intensely moving. The filmmaker's decision to convert the voiceover to typed words for the final paragraph is also extremely well executed. Of all the memorable things about this stunning coming of age film, the thing that stays with you are those words, on a black screen: "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"