Japanese films about high schoolers are many; junior high schoolers, few. One reason is that producers can cast a film about 17 year olds with 27-year-old actors who have massive fan followings. The result: bigger box office than if they had used newcomers barely into adolescence.

That, however, did not stop Shin Adachi from making "14 That Night," an energetic, goofy coming-of-age comedy in which the young hero and his pals are at or near the title age, as are the actors playing them.

Premiering in the Japanese Cinema Splash section of this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, the film may be based on veteran scriptwriter and first-time director Adachi's own memories of growing up in the 1980s, but its obvious cinematic inspiration is "Stand by Me." A critical and commercial success at the time of its release, this 1986 Rob Reiner film about four boys in rural Oregon setting off to find the body of a missing child has since become a beloved classic, especially in Japan.