Rob Reiner made his name as a director with his debut feature, the satirical This Is Spinal Tap, and proved his versatility two years later with this wonderful coming-of-age drama. It's a smart, sensitive, 1950s-set tale taken from the unlikely source of Stephen King's story The Body. The rich dialogue and the intelligent performances, from the likes of Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix, are a joy to behold as four schoolfriends set out to find the corpse of a missing boy.

After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, but they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.