Now and Then (film)

Now and Then
Now and Then movie poster
Directed by	Lesli Linka Glatter
Produced by	Demi Moore Suzanne Todd
Written by	I. Marlene King
Starring	Christina Ricci Demi Moore Melanie Griffith Rosie O'Donnell Thora Birch
Music by	Cliff Eidelman
Cinematography	Ueli Steiger
Editing by	Jacqueline Cambas
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	October 20, 1995
Running time	100 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12,000,000

Now and Then is a 1995 film directed by Lesli Linka Glatter and starring Christina Ricci, Rosie O'Donnell, Thora Birch, Melanie Griffith, Gaby Hoffmann, Demi Moore, Ashleigh Aston Moore and Rita Wilson.

It was filmed largely in Savannah, Georgia, using the downtown squares and the Country Walk subdivision Gaslight Addition and Bonaventure Cemetery and Statesboro, Georgia, highlighting the downtown area. Statesboro locations include the Bulloch County Court House (also featured in the film "1969") and the building now housing the Averitt Center for the Arts.

A dramatic sequence in the film features a storm drain in a rainstorm that is on Statesboro's West Main Street, across the street from Main Street Billiards and near 119 Chops Restaurant.

It has been referred to as a female version of the 1986 film, Stand by Me.

Plot

In 1991, four childhood friends — Samantha Albertson, the "weird" girl who likes performing seances and whose parents are divorcing (fairly uncommon in the early 1970s); Roberta Martin, a tough tomboy whose mother died when she was four; Chrissy DeWitt, a naive girl who is sheltered by her mother, and Tina "Teeny" Tercell, an outgoing girl who dreams of being famous -- reunite in their hometown of Shelby, Indiana.

Chrissy is revealed to be living in her childhood home with her nerdy husband, Morton, pregnant with her first child, and due to give birth any day. Teeny is now a Hollywood actress who has been married three times. Roberta is now a doctor and is living "in sin" with her boyfriend. Sam is now a science-fiction author and also serves as the narrator of the story. The girls are in Chrissy's backyard, reminiscing about the summer of 1970. Teeny and Samantha have not been back to their hometown since 1985.

The story returns to the early summer of 1970, and the girls have one goal: to obtain the money needed to buy a tree house. While saving money for the tree house and avoiding the Wormers, four brothers who torment them at every chance, they sneak out one night to the local graveyard to perform a seance. To their surprise, they find a tombstone cracked down the middle, leading them to believe they resurrected the spirit of a young boy named "Dear" Johnny.

The local library has no information on him, so the girls head to a town farther away. They reach the next town's library. Roberta comes across an article concerning her mother's death, which reveals that she died in a car accident. Samantha then finds some information on Dear Johnny, including that he and his mother died together in a tragic accident. Before they find out more, they see that the rest of the article was torn out of the book, indicating that someone wants to keep his death a mystery.

On the way home, they encounter a returning soldier from the Vietnam War, who gives them a pessimistic view of its progress. The next day, they visit Wiladine, a self-proclaimed psychic, to find out more on Dear Johnny. Using tarot cards, she determines that he was murdered.

Afterward, they hear about a softball game being played and head to the field. While the other three watch, Roberta steps up to bat, but hits a foul ball, which prompts Jimmy, the local bully, to declare that girls can't play softball. She walks up to him and punches him in the face, knocking him to the ground, and continues beating him. Samantha, Teeny, and Chrissy break up the fight, but Jimmy insults Roberta's mother's death, which causes Samantha to jump at him and beat him. When she gets home, she meets Bud Kent, a man her mother is having over for dinner. She dislikes him immediately and is cold towards him. Bud spills his drink on himself and takes off his jacket, while her mother gives him her father's shirt. She promptly storms out.

Teeny is seen watching Love Story at a drive-in movie from the roof of her house when Samantha shows up. They decide to go to the store and hang out in the display model of the tree house. Roberta is playing basketball alone in her driveway when Scott Wormer suddenly shows up. They play for a minute and then sit on an outdoor bench by her house. They both question why they fight all the time and share a kiss. After a moment of silence, she warns him, "If you mention this to anyone, especially your brothers, I'll beat the shit out of you." At the tree house, Samantha and Teeny are playing Truth or Dare when Samantha suddenly tells her that her parents are divorcing, to her surprise. She talks about her desire to have a normal family, and starts crying. Teeny comforts her, saying that there is no such thing as a normal family. She then bites her favorite necklace in half and gives one half to her, as a "best friends for life" bracelet.

It starts to rain, so they leave the store. As they're riding their bikes, Samantha realizes that her bracelet fell off, and they stop to look for it. Teeny sees it in a storm drain, and Samantha reaches for it. Just as she gets her fingers around it, it slips further into the drain. She climbs down into there to retrieve it, and then the water rises, and she begins to drown. Teeny attempts to pull her up, but can't reach her. Just as the situation seems hopeless, Crazy Pete, an old vagrant, sees what's going on, and jumps in after her. He successfully pulls her out and the girls thank him and see him in a new light, knowing that she would have perished had he not been there.

The next day, all four girls are painting Roberta's garage. The Wormers pass by, and while most of them ignore them, Scott, in an out of character gesture, politely greets them, while looking specifically at Roberta. As the Wormers are walking away, the girls ridicule Scott, while Roberta says that he's not so bad. Later, they visit Samantha's grandmother, and ask her about Dear Johnny. She refuses to tell them, however, saying that it would be too much for them. Just then, her poker buddies show up to get her. She then rushes the girls to get out of the house, and leaves for her tournament. Instead of leaving, they sneak into the attic from the window and search for any more information regarding Dear Johnny's death. They eventually find a newspaper with the headline "Murders Stun Town", proving that he and his mother were indeed murdered. This revelation shocks all four of them as they realize that even their seemingly safe town can be dangerous. Roberta then flies into a rage, appalled that two innocent people were murdered in cold blood and the realization that her mother died painfully, despite her father's claims. Samantha then finally tells the others that her parents are getting a divorce. They then make a pact to always be there for one another, no matter what.

They then go back to the cemetery to perform another seance to put Dear Johnny's soul to rest. His tombstone then rises in the air with a bright light surrounding it, frightening them. A figure appears in the light before revealing itself to be just a handyman. He explains that he accidentally cracked the tombstone with his tractor and they realize that they fooled themselves into believing that they resurrected Dear Johnny. From then on they decide to quit performing the seances, deeming them a waste of time. As they're leaving, they see Crazy Pete in the cemetery. The others leave while Samantha stays behind and follows him to Dear Johnny's new tombstone. She then comes to the conclusion that he is in fact Pete Simmons, his father. She comforts him, while he tells her not to dwell on things in life. The two then go their separate ways. Some time after, the tree house is bought, and Samantha gives a narration: "We all used to try so hard to fit in. We wanted to look exactly alike, do all the same things, practically be the same people. And when we weren't looking, that changed. The tree house was supposed to bring us more independence. But what the summer actually brought was independence from each other."

The film then jumps back to 1991, and Chrissy is in labor. They take Teeny's limo to the hospital, where Roberta delivers the baby, which is a girl. Morton arrives just then to meet his new daughter. Later, the ladies are in their treehouse with the baby, playing Truth or Dare. After that and a deep conversation on how happy they are in life, they make another pact to visit more often. They see a group of kids playing Red Rover and join the game. The films ends with one final narration from Samantha: "You can run from the disappointments you're trying to forget, but it's only when you embrace your past that you truly move forward. Maybe Thomas Wolfe never got to go home again, but I found my way there, and I'm glad I did."

Character Profiles

Samantha Albertson

Samantha Albertson (Gaby Hoffman/Demi Moore) narrates the frame story of the film. She is the "weird" one, and believes in the paranormal and leads the seances in the graveyard. Her home life is shaken during that summer as her father leaves and her parents get divorced (which was particularly shocking in 1970). As an adult, she is a popular science fiction author who has issues committing in relationships. At 12, she was the most invested in the mystery of Dear Johnny, the ghost that the girls believe they have resurrected from his grave. She alone learns the truth behind his story, and hears some valuable advice that later, as an adult, helps her to come to terms with her current struggles in life.

Roberta Martin

Roberta Martin (Christina Ricci/Rosie O'Donnell) is the only girl in her house, after her mother died in a car accident when she was four. As a result, she is a tomboy who has issues with femininity and tapes her breasts, plays sports, and won't hesitate to get into a fight with a boy. She struggles to come to terms with death in general and the circumstances of her mother's death in particular. She leads the girls in their rivalry with the Wormer brothers, but ends up sharing a kiss with Scott (Devon Sawa). After it, she finally stops taping her breasts, indicating that she is growing up by her acceptance in being a woman. As an adult, she is a doctor (an obstetrician), and "lives in sin with her boyfriend." Although he is never mentioned by name as an adult, it might be "Scott Wormer."

Chrissy DeWitt

Chrissy DeWitt (Ashleigh Aston Moore/Rita Wilson) grows up under the care of an overbearing, fastidious mother (played by Bonnie Hunt) who shelters her. Her naivete, particularly towards all things sexual, is often laughed at by her friends. When she asks her mother what sex is, she becomes incredibly uncomfortable and compares it to gardening, which confuses her and leads to an adulthood obsession with gardening. She is the "good girl," who chastises the others for cussing (both as a child and an adult). Being the most responsible one, she closely keeps track of the "tree house money," and is always the reluctant party of the others' schemes. However, she is fiercely loyal, and when Roberta pulls a stunt of faking her own death, she rushes to perform CPR. Upon learning that she was faking it, she punches her and yells, "Don't ever do that to me again!" As an adult, she marries the nerdy Morton Williams and lives with him in her mother's old house in Shelby, complete with the girls' old tree house in the backyard. It is the birth of her first child which brings Samantha, Roberta, and Teeny back to their hometown. In the end she and Morton have a baby girl.

Tina "Teeny" Tercell

Tina "Teeny" Tercell (Thora Birch/Melanie Griffith) lives with her rich country-club parents who are rarely around, which according to Samantha's narration is "typical upbringing for actors and pathological liars." She loves glamour, and likes to dress up, play with makeup, and watch the movies at the drive-in movie that she can see from her roof. She demonstrates the most interest in boys and sexuality of all the girls, and flirts and expresses a desire for bigger breasts. (As an adult, she gets breast implants.) She goes through multiple marriages and becomes a wealthy actress, arriving in Shelby via limousine (which is later co-opted for transporting Chrissy to the hospital when she goes into labor).

Reception

The film was released on October 20, 1995 and was a commercial success.^{[citation needed]} Its setting is based on the town of Winchester, Indiana and mentions many sights and sounds around this Midwestern city. The city council and many city leaders suppressed the inclusion of the name in the film for fear it may have an adverse impact on the city.^{[citation needed]} Shelby is a real town in Indiana, but is located in the northwest part of the state.

Cast

• Christina Ricci as Young Roberta Martin
• Rosie O'Donnell as Adult Roberta Martin
• Thora Birch as Young Tina "Teeny" Tercell
• Melanie Griffith as Adult Tina "Teeny" Tercell
• Gaby Hoffmann as Young Samantha Albertson
• Demi Moore as Adult Samantha Albertson
• Ashleigh Aston Moore as Young Chrissy DeWitt
• Rita Wilson as Adult Chrissy DeWitt
• Devon Sawa as Scott Wormer
• Lolita Davidovich as Mrs. Albertson, Samantha's Mom
• Rumer Willis as Angela Albertson, Samantha's sister (credited as Willa Glen)
• Cloris Leachman as Grandma Albertson
• Hank Azaria as Bud Kent, Mrs. Albertson's boyfriend
• Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. DeWitt, Chrissy's Mom
• Janeane Garofalo as Wiladene
• Walter Sparrow as "Crazy Pete"
• Bradley Coryell as Wormer Brother
• Travis Robertson as Wormer Brother
• Justin Humphrey as Wormer Brother
• Brendan Fraser as Vietnam veteran (uncredited)

Soundtrack

Tracklisting

1. "Sugar, Sugar" - The Archies
2. "Knock Three Times" - Tony Orlando/Dawn
3. "I Want You Back" - Jackson 5
4. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" - Stevie Wonder
5. "Band of Gold" - Freda Payne
6. "Daydream Believer" - The Monkees
7. "No Matter What" - Badfinger
8. "Hitchin' a Ride" - Vanity Fare
9. "All Right Now" - Free
10. "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" - Supremes/Temptations
11. "I'll Be There" - Jackson 5
12. "Now and Then" - Susanna Hoffs

External links

• Movie Memorabilia
• Now and Then at the Internet Movie Database
• Now and Then at AllRovi
• Now and Then at Rotten Tomatoes