Review of Now and Then (1995) by John A — 12 Mar 2008

'Now and Then' has been hailed as a 'Stand By Me' for girls, but unfortunately the film is not anywhere near the calibre or distinction of that picture. It is a coming-of-age story with most of the film being a single flashback to the summer of 1970, where we follow the lives and laughs, as well as sorrows, of four teenage friends.

What the film does, however, is bookend this flashback with the characters in present tense, all grown up and where one is expecting their first-born. This is my first complaint - these modern scenes are so inescapably dull we are left with a sour opening, and a bad aftertaste.

Then the majority of the girls' summer is in fact spent uncovering the mysterious death of a boy 40 years earlier. Why? It's never properly explained. We are just forced to accept such a boring subplot, not to mention countless other convoluted scenes where characters find themselves in turmoil or distress, none of which are convincing enough to satisfy or entertain.

The script's weaknesses are so obvious, but also so easily rectifiable -yet the director seems to prefer the fuzzy, insufferable style of so many coming-of-age films. Christina Ricci and Thora Birch are among the standouts of the teenage cast, who are surprisingly more convincing and effective than their older counterparts - some of the casting of which is too, questionable; I had trouble believing that a young, slim Ricci grew outwards into the significantly different Rosie O'Donnell.

Still, there is occasionally a surprising jolt of humour in the script, or a genuinely touching moment, but they are few and far between. The film wants to be nice, but sadly nice only means conventional, predictable and lacking in originality.