MovieChat Forums > Now and Then (1995) Discussion > 'Then' vs. 'Now'

'Then' vs. 'Now'

posted 10 years ago by lakealice
5 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was an engaging film with good performances from the girls in the Then" portion. I did not like the "Now" portions, because the movie stars chosen were too old and unattractive to look at (with the exception of Rosie),and not as good actresses as the young girls (again, with the exception of Rosie). Rita looked too old to be having a first baby (I know it's possible, just not fitting in cinematic terms}. Demi Moore was a poor choice, both visually and vocally, because her narration was annoyingly flat and expressionless. Rosie O'Donnell should have been the narrator. Why was Demi dressed like a man? I thought this would be explained, but it never was.
I also thought there were a lot of clichés, and the boys' swimming scene seemed inserted only because the writers thought "We've got to get some nudity into this film."

[–] Noirdame79 9 years ago

The flashbacks were better than the rest of the movie, although I don't think the adult actresses were terrible. The young girls and the other child adolescent characters were more believable and entertaining.

Sleepers (1996) and Stephen King's IT (1990) fared very much the same way, because the adult cast, no matter how talented, were never as engaging, entertaining or believable as the kids. Stand By Me (1986) came off better as it spent more time on the retrospective story, and only featured one character as an adult, briefly at the beginning and end of the film.

[–] byson5186 9 years ago

I believe all of us prefer the scenes from when they were 12-year olds.

Besides that when I saw your post I thought it was saying Then referring to the time the movie was made compared to Now. I've seen a few comments on this movie including from like 12-year old girls who wished they were born in the old days feeling like life was more fun back then, where we knew how to entertain ourselves without all this digital technology, and where popular music among adolescents was not rap with lots of profanity.

[–] blakkdog 8 years ago

Not as good actresses? The four kids were absolutely brilliant in this sure but to say seasoned stars like Demi Moore and Melanie Griffith are weak actors is ridiculous.

The problem I had with the 'now' portion was the adult actresses didnt LOOK anything like the kid actresses. I mean Christina Ricci and Rosie O'Donnell?? Have you seen Christina Ricci? Even back then it was clear she was going to be very good looking. Why would you cast her as Rosie O'Donnell?! In fact I spent the ENTIRE movie thinking Christina Ricci's character grew up to be Demi Moore because they look much more alike. There was even a scene where Demi Moore was wearing long braids like Ricci's character did. It wasnt until Moore's speech at the end in the treehouse that I realized I had it mixed up. I was floored! Angry beautiful Roberta had completely mellowed out, lost any semblance of her good looks and become a doctor? While rock steady Samantha had become a neurotic, chain smoking angry goth who couldnt deal with socializing? That doesnt make sense to me. Id be curious to see when these transformations took place exactly. Clearly we need to see the high school versions of them to see the transition process.

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[–] MusicLover3889 (307) 5 years ago

It’s a movie. They’re not supposed to look exactly like one another.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (6931) 5 years ago

My problem with the "Now" portion of the film wasn't the actresses - it was in the cheesy, kind of ridiculous stereotypical writing of who they'd become as adults.

None of them had changed really. One wanted to become a famous actress as a child, so she did - because the dream I had of being an aquanaut at age eight came true and never evolved, right? One was a writer as a kid, and stayed a writer.

For a movie that showed them smoking and talking to homeless people as kids - engaging in raw, messy material - its portrayal of adulthood was almost unbelievably neat and tidy and uninteresting, and it didn't feel real in the way the rest of the movie did.