Now and Then (1995)

NOW AND THEN / (1995) **1/2 (out of four)

Lesli Linka Glatter's touching drama "Now and Then" is a misguided tale that beautifully captures the many painful and joyful ups and downs of four best friends growing up in the 1970's. Best compared to "Stand By Me" and "Man in the Moon," this tender movie gently touches base with the delicate time period when young girls experience the confusions and emotions that are present in the process of puberty.

The plots happens over the eventful summer of 1970. The film details the lives of four best friends, Samantha (Gaby Hoffmann), Teeny (Thora Birch), Roberta (Christina Ricci), and Chrissy (Ashleigh Aston Moore). During this summer, the girls find it necessary to ware bras for the first time in their lives, a factor in which they have varied feelings. This is also the summer where they discover their town's horrifying secret about a young boy who mysteriously died thirty years ago. Pursuing the girls are the neighbor boys named the Wormers.

The film is told in the present through the girls who are now adults. The adult actresses, including Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson, Demi Moore, and Melanie Griffith, appear only as wraparound bookends to fill the audience's desire to see whom the girls turn out to be. However, they are not examined in enough detail to fulfill these desires.

"Now and Then" filmmakers describe the characters descriptively and vividly with believable character traits like curiosity and lively spirit. They are very well cast by some of Hollywood's biggest names, who perform with a sweet, gentle, fitting attitude. The movie's actors are willing to give more than the script allows.

The problem lies not within character, however, but in plot. The film seems unclear of what it is about, whether it wants to detail the lives of four adolescent girls, discovering the death of Dear Johnny, childhood mischief: the story is so easily distracted. The film persistently adds in unnecessary clichés and predictable character formality involving relationship conflicts and novice romances. Yet at the same time the plot is executed artistically with an enjoyable sense of style and an effective mood along with a soundtrack that is true to the 70's era.

"Now and Then" is the kind of movie that relies entirely on subplots to propel its distracted story line along. I compare the film's structure to that of a deformed tree, where there are plenty of narrative roots and the story branches off in many directions, but it does not have a thick trunk for support.

Fmovies: This is a cult classic girl movie and i still watch it today. Although I did not enjoy the 'Now' version of the film, where the four girls are grown up and re-uniting, mostly because i feel the characters dont really like eachother anymore, i loved watching the 'then' part with the four girls growing up in 1970's USA. The excellent soundtrack just adds to the uplifting feeling of this film. Watch as we follow Christina Richie and friends growing up through fun times (Devon Sawa getting his clothes stolen) and bad times (Richie finding out how her mum died). Look for an early performance from Brendan Frasier as a soldier back from war, and Thora Birch before she got all serious! Excellent film.

This was a great family flick. It was funny and charming. I watched this film with my girlfriend, when she picked it out at Blockbuster I cringed at the fact of having to watch it, but you know, I admit, I enjoyed this film a lot more than I though I was going to. It was cute, the plot was good, it actually kind of reminded me of another fantastic film called "Stand By Me", but in a girl's perspective of course. If you have young children, heck, if you don't have young children, give this one a shot. This is a film I think any Female would probably enjoy. If your a dude, put away all your manly inhibitions for about an hour and a half, don't expect too much going into the film, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Now and Then fmovies. This is a nice example of a fairly popular genre, the nostalgic growing-up, adventure on the edge of maturity, friendship bonding thing. As already mentioned, the adults are irrelevant and add nothing to the film (not even acting talent). The roles the girls take are all nicely stereo-typical, the princess, the prude, the tom-boy, the 'normal' one - they could have been the Spice Girls! Anyways, if you want to see a cutsie flick that's nostalgic and fairly innoffensive, this could be for you.

I see a lot of people comparing this movie to Stand By Me but the problem with that is if you were old enough to see Stand By Me when it was first released then hate to break it to you but this movie is not targeted at your demographic. Just because something feels like a remake of a movie made a decade before does not mean that the new movie is in anyway terrible. Take Heathers and Mean Girls for example both good movies but in my opinion Mean Girls appealed to me more as it was aimed at my demographic. If you can't judge a movie on it's own merits than perhaps you need to chill a little.

Anyway, Now and Then is one of those movies that sticks with you for life. Recently I just converted a friend of mine in her mid twenties to loving this movie. I was dumbfounded that she had missed this right of passage that most young girls had when this movie was released. Every girl can relate to one of the four characters and it reminds you of a simpler time where all that mattered were boys, having fun and navigating your way through growing up. I still remember taking Cosmo quizzes and thinking they had an insight into your soul, preparing for your first kiss and investing in my first bra. I know there are a lot of parents who think this movie is overly sexualised but guess what when your kid is going through puberty nothing will turn them back into your precious little angel. Accept it and hope they have supportive friends who they can share their journey with.

If you watch the movie with an open heart you will find a great cast that feels real in their characters, a brilliant soundtrack that increases your nostalgia level and a deep and meaningful storyline. It deals with subject matter that many adolescent movies steer clear of, just because you are young does not mean you haven't experienced hurt and pain like an adult. Adolescents needs to know that life is not always perfect and that there will be ups and downs but everyone is all in it together. I cannot strongly recommend this movie enough if you are willing to enjoy this movie for what it is, a fantastic coming of age movie.

NOW AND THEN, in my opinion, is a very hilarious and touching movie about the power of friendship. If you ask me, it makes you and your friends stop and evaluate your friendship. I know it certainly made me stop and evaluate my friendship with my really close friends. All in all, this was a very good movie. In conclusion, if you enjoy buddy movies, and you haven't seen this very hilarious and touching movie about the power of friendship, I highly recommend it! You're in for a real treat and lots of laughs, so go to the video store, rent it or buy it, kick back with a friend, and watch it. If you miss it, I guarantee you you'll regret it.