Now and Then (1995)

I vaguely remember seeing trailers for this movie when it came out all those years ago but never saw it ... until today. My public library recently added the DVD to its holdings.The "now" and "then" refers to four 30-something friends from childhood who have come together in 1994 and seeing the old treehouse still in the backyard of one reminisce about that fateful year, 1970, when they were 12. So most of the movie has four 12-yr-old actresses playing the roles, but the beginning and end are the mature actresses playing their older selves. One is a doctor, another is a writer, yet another is an actress, while one stayed in town and is about to have a baby.The summer of 1970 has the girls playing in the cemetery at night and seeing a tombstone of a boy their age, 12, buried in 1945. Part of their quest is to find out who this boy was and how he died. They have a number of experiences, some with the local bullies, four brothers. And some adventures are unpleasant involving friction in families. But somehow they survive and finally finding out about the dead boy had some life lessons.Overall a really good movie. Shot in and around Savannah Georgia.

'Now And Then' is about a group of women who return to their old treehouse and reminisce about the one summer that truly changed their lives...With an all star cast, 'Now And Then' features Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore, Rita Wilson and Rosie O'Donnell, with Thora Birch, Gaby Hoffman, Ashleigh Aston Moore and Christina Ricci playing their younger counterparts.Teen star Christina Ricci ('Casper', 'The Adams Family') is great - as is Ricci's 'Gold Diggers' co-star, Ashleigh Aston Moore - as the mis-informed Chrissy. Bonnie Hunt ('Jumangi') and Devon Sawa ('Wild America') also star.The story is great - plenty of laughs to be had here, with sad moments, too. The acting is A-Grade (the young girls look very promising) and the finished product is a film all the cast should be proud of.

Watching this reminded me of the Korean movie "Sunny" although this came out first. Well it wouldn't be a shock if the director of "Sunny" was influenced by this movie. The dialogue however didn't seem as natural sometimes and seemed like watching some southern novel that isn't really down to earth. It just didn't seem like what a group of women would be saying to each other, but than again the story switches back from the 70's to 90's when it comes to the characters. The dialogue just seemed too safe to be natural despite the sexual stuff and it's a girly movie. Since the 4 main character are 4 girls in the 70's and women in the 90's. Anyways the story is about 4 women getting together after spending there childhood together and reminisce of the past and adventures they had together. Although most of it takes place during a summer. Now I am not a fan of Rosie O'Donnell, to be honest I think she is irritating to watch sometimes. Her character is like the main character or leader of the pack and I thought it was ridiculous her younger version would be played by Christina Ricci. Not that I am a fan of Ricci either, but the comparison is too big to the point you can get confused who is who sometimes when it comes to the younger version with the older version or visa versa. So yeah I don't know if Rosie picked her younger version but it's just absurd. Overall this is a touching movie that most girls and maybe some boys will probably enjoy watching and parents will probably enjoy it as well. It really does give off a nostalgic feel because of the friendship, even if you didn't go through the same things the girls did in the movie. I give this movie a 6.8 because the development of the characters aren't done all that great and somethings are not explained and not for good reasons. Some say this is a female version of "Stand By Me" and I agree to certain extent.6.8/10

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.