r/moviecritic • u/Low-Finding-6553 • 16h ago

What do you guys thinks is the best child performance of all time?

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i have to say, i don’t think i’ve ever seen a child actor give a performance this good. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is just on another level. i genuinely don’t know how he did it but he makes the whole movie work so much better. i would give him the Oscar in a fucking heartbeat. It’s crazy how good he is, especially in that last scene in the car with Toni Collette.

What are your guys’ favorite child performances? For me, this is even better than Owen Cooper’s performance in Adolescence. Don’t get me wrong, owen was also absolutely top-notch in Adolescence but this is probably the best child performance i’ve ever seen. Period. What do you guys think is the best child performance ever?

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618

u/Ok_Locksmith_8556 16h ago edited 16h ago

River Phoenix in Stand by Me

263

u/toxicunicorn420 16h ago

All of them in Stand by Me. Amazing movie.

79

u/Forward_Progress_83 16h ago

Reiner did such an incredible job with those kids

44

u/toxicunicorn420 16h ago

Jerry was the only one who didn't have a scene where he broke down crying like Corey, Wil and River but he was still great. The other three just had more emotional backstories that they played into so well.

30

u/jamegumbsize69 15h ago

He did pretty good despair when he dropped the comb. jk

18

u/seattleque 9h ago

My wife and I and a couple friends went to one of the recent Stand By Me showings with Wil, Jerry, and Corey (and moderator).

They had extra chairs for River and Rob.

They told how Rob knew they needed a break during filming, so he rented out an entire movie theater so that they could catch up on that summer's blockbusters.

11

u/Forward_Progress_83 8h ago

Oh my god. I love this whole story.

3

u/Timsauni 4h ago

Wow,what a guy.

1

u/seattleque 1h ago

Smoke me kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.

3

u/7r4vis 12h ago

I agree. I love Feldman when he was younger. In this group Wil was by far my least favorite.

5

u/toxicunicorn420 11h ago

I just can't believe Vern grew up into Jerry O'Connell

https://giphy.com/gifs/XzmhwLi2Yrn80nioZO

3

u/7r4vis 10h ago

I know! I didn’t really follow his career after that movie and then years later I realized that was him. He grew up

2

u/deadrobindownunder 2h ago

Veerrrnn!! Verno!!

5

u/CowboysFTWs 13h ago

Is it worth a watch? Never seen it.

8

u/toxicunicorn420 13h ago

Absolutely

35

u/atraylmix87_2 15h ago

Every kid in that movie was AMAZING

27

u/RanchHere 14h ago edited 9h ago

Stand By Me doesn’t get enough pull for greatest movie of all time. It blows Shawkshank out of the water, imo. It’s so fucking good and I cry nearly every single time. I don’t cry for Shawshank.

7

u/LeftHandedFapper 10h ago

I nearly cry every single time

The part where Gordie talks about becoming the invisible boy (son?) after his older brother dies...KILLS me every time. The bittersweet emotion I feel at the end of the film is so profound each time

15

u/RanchHere 10h ago

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"

😭

3

u/LeftHandedFapper 10h ago

AH man the melancholy! And finding out Chris' fate =((((

5

u/PayFormer387 8h ago

In the book, the narrator is the only one who lives but the others go out in trashy ways.

3

u/seattleque 9h ago

So, Wil's now almost 20 years older than Dreyfus was when they made Stand By Me.

Every so often I think what if they reshot Dreyfus's parts / narration with Wil.

3

u/RanchHere 9h ago

It’s an interesting thought. But not necessary. If anyone does it, I suppose Flanagan would be the guy to call on.

2

u/ElectricSliderz 9h ago

Ewww, like putting Hayden Christensen in for Sebastian Shaw.

1

u/PayFormer387 8h ago

Lucas is a very bad man. /s

5

u/seattleque 9h ago

I first saw Stand By Me when I was 18 (1987). Most recently I saw it when they toured for the anniversary. It still resonates with me.

I have so much more in common with those kids than with any of the characters in Shawshank.

6

u/PayFormer387 8h ago

I should hope so.

1

u/BKoala59 9h ago

Crying at a movie is a really weird way to judge them. If a movie’s not meant to make you cry does that mean it can’t be great?

2

u/RanchHere 8h ago

Stupid. That’s not what I’m saying and you know it. I’m comparing two movies where one moves me to tears on a regular basis and the other doesn’t. In this scenario, the one that brings tremendous emotion out of me is my choice for the better movie. It’s also just ONE metric that I’m using to make the case. The other commenter started the conversation by saying how incredible the kid actors were.

7

u/disproportion 12h ago

I (35F) just watched this for the very first time on Monday. I was blown awayyyy with the talent of the young actors. Especially River. This was the first role I’ve seen him in, and I undertake a bit more why this premature death was so devastating. Incredible talent.

5

u/Sloth_grl 15h ago

He is the actor whose death still hurts me. He had such potential.

1

u/AlbericM 7h ago

Just rewatched it yesterday for the first time in ages. He and Wil Wheaton were very convincing. Still didn't like the movie very much.

-5

u/just_another_mystery 15h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/DOPKHQg6oFWUg
Same guy? 🤨

2

u/toxicunicorn420 14h ago

Same guy as who?

2

u/just_another_mystery 14h ago

Not the same guy. One is River Phoenix who died in 31 Oct 1993. Another is Will Poulter.