Now and Then (film)

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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
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 Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget $12,000,000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Now and Then is a 1995 film directed by Lesli Linka Glatter and starring Demi Moore, Melanie Griffith, Rosie O'Donnell and Rita Wilson.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film tells the story of four friends that have been busy with their lives until an important event reunites them in their home town of Shelby, Indiana. Most of the film, however, is a flashback to the summer of 1970, in which the four 12-year-old girls (played by Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, Gaby Hoffmann and Ashleigh Aston Moore) divide their time between gathering money to buy a treehouse in search for "independence" and investigating a local mystery. Both happy and unfortunate events occur, which help them realize they're growing up. Once they achieve their goal and buy the treehouse they make a promise to be there for one another.

Tagline: A summer when four friends made a promise to return anytime they needed each other. Twenty years later, that time has come.

[edit] Reception

The film was released on October 20, 1995 and was not a big hit at the time, but did moderately well and has gone on to become a cult favorite, hailed as a "Stand by Me for girls". One problem might have been a misleading ad campaign which made it seem that the adult versions of the characters had substantial parts in the movie, though they only appeared in brief 'book-ending' segments. This film 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 of Winchester in the film for fear it may have an adverse impact on the city. Shelby, Indiana is a real town in Indiana, but is located in the Northwest part of the state.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

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  • Scenes in which the girls ran a backyard carnival to raise money to buy the tree house were cut from the film. Also dropped were scenes where the girls go to Sears to buy the tree house, and when Teeny receives the David Cassidy necklace she ordered through the mail (the necklace she later breaks and gives half of to Sam.)
  • The little girl who plays Samantha's sister, Angela, is Demi Moore and Bruce Willis' daughter Rumer Willis.
  • The original name of the movie was "The Gaslight Addition".
  • Kirsten Dunst was originally offered the role of Chrissy but turned it down because she did not want to gain weight for the film. The part was taken by Canadian actress Ashleigh Aston Moore (no relation to Demi). It was her first American film role.
  • Demi Moore, who played the adult Samantha, co-produced the movie.
  • Rita Wilson, who played the adult Chrissy, is the wife of actor Tom Hanks. She and Rosie O'Donnell are close friends in real life.
  • Melanie Griffith is the daughter of actress Tippi Hedren, best known for starring in Alfred Hitchcock's films The Birds and Marnie. It was Griffith who suggested Thora Birch for the role of young Teeny, having worked with her in an earlier film.
  • A sincere effort was made to fill as many positions as possible in the creative team with qualified women. The film has a female writer, female director, female producer, female stars, and many female crew-members.
  • Roberta, played as a girl by Christina Ricci and as an adult by Rosie O'Donnell was originally intended to be a lesbian, but the lines establishing this were edited out after preview audiences claimed to find them 'confusing.'
  • This was Christina Ricci's second film playing opposite Devon Sawa. The two also kissed in the movie Casper, made a year or so earlier. They were never a real-life couple.
  • Demi Moore called in many favors to bring in some well-known Hollywood actors. Aside from the main cast, there are also cameo roles by Cloris Leachman, Bonnie Hunt, Janeane Garofalo, Brendan Fraser, Hank Azaria and Lolita Davidovich.
  • There were two 'soundtrack albums' released in connection with the film:
    • The first featured 1970's pop hits used in the film, such as the Archies "Sugar Sugar" and "Knock Three Times" by Tony Orlando and Dawn, along with the original theme song performed by Susanna Hoffs, formerly of The Bangles;
    • The second was orchestral incidental music by Cliff Eidelman that played in the background during the serious scenes.
  • The film is set in a small Indiana town, but was filmed in Savannah, Georgia in mid-winter in 1994.
  • Rosie O'Donnell contracted food poisoning while making the movie and had to be taken to the hospital. She later worked this incident and the experience of filming the movie into a stand-up routine she performed on her HBO Special.
  • The 1970s wardrobe met with mixed reactions from the girls. Christina Ricci reportedly was so repulsed by her character's outfits that she cried. Ricci later acted in a 70s period piece with similar outfits (The Ice Storm), and was still dumbfounded by the way people dressed in the 70s. Gaby Hoffman later complained about the clothes being 'too tight' and 'not fitting right' and grew to hate the crocheted poncho she wore in several scenes. Thora Birch, on the other hand, loved fashion-conscious Teeny's ensembles.
  • Brandon Kleyla, who has a small role as nose-picking nerd Bobby Fricker, later went on to direct a video for the band Insane Clown Posse.
  • 1970s Pop Culture References:

[edit] Alternate version

  • The version shown on ABC in late 2002 (as well as the versions shown on the Superstation and TNT) omits the scene where Samantha's mother makes them all hide under table while Cloris Leachman's character bangs on the door. A scene where the girls spy on boys skinny-dipping is also re-edited with less revealing shots of the boys.

[edit] External links