Product Details

• Actors: Christina Ricci, Rosie O'Donnell, Thora Birch, Melanie Griffith, Gaby Hoffmann
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 21, 1999
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (159 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00002SSKI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,160 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Now and Then" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This obligatory girls' version of Stand by Me begins with actors Melanie Griffith, Rita Wilson, Demi Moore, and Rosie O'Donnell doing a lousy job of playing adult versions of the film's youthful protagonists. The idea is that this quartet of characters is having a reunion, which serves as a preface to the main story about school chums who make a pact to stay close and supportive through thick and thin. The trouble is that Griffith, Moore, Wilson, and O'Donnell look like they've rehearsed their scenes for no more than a few minutes, and after boring us silly there's little reason to get excited about anything else. Still, it's nice to have a supporting cast that includes Janeane Garofalo and Bonnie Hunt, while among the girls are three young actresses who have been burning up the road in recent years: Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex), Thora Birch (A Clear and Present Danger), and Gaby Hoffmann (Strike). --Tom Keogh

Product Description

A poignant look at girlhood friendships and how one summer set in motion the adult lives of four remarkable women starring Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell and Rita Wilson.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Always....Not Just Now and Then, August 31, 2004

By 

V. Marshall (North Fork, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Now and Then (DVD)

This is a great character film expanding the lives of four young girls from the good old 70's decade and stirring up a lot of old memories.

The film starts with the adult versions of the four girls played by Rosie O'Donnell, Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore and Rita Wilson as they come together for a reunion for the birth of Wilson's child. Not much has changed! O'Donnell has become a doctor, Griffith a movie star, Moore a writer and Wilson a pink and perky mother to be. This film allows us all to discover how these women came to be and it is actually pretty insightful. So sit back and take yourself on an "old school" journey back in time.

Soon enough this movie goes back in time to the early 70's when kids could ride bikes all over town, ice cream sodas were the rage, AM radios hung on every handlebar, laughter hung in the air and stories were meant to be told. The young O'Donnell is played by Christina Ricci, a tough tomboy growing up in a family of men because her mother was killed. Ricci is the strong one, the shoulder to cry on, the fighter who would rather play sports than sprout a couple of breasts. Griffith is portrayed as a young girl by Thora Birch and as a youth is fascinated early by sex, fake breasts and being an actress. Birch is the adventurer, the wandering heart and the heartbreaker of the group. Moore's child is played by Gaby Hoffman and she is the quiet, introspective and questioning young girl. Hoffman gets herself in all sorts of dilemmas stemming from the shame of divorced parents who act more like children than she does. Finally Wilson is played by Ashleigh Aston Moore, and of all the girls she remains steadfastly the same in adulthood as in youth, a simple, rather innocent girl surrounded by a perfectionist mother (played by Bonnie Hunt!) and an entire room of pink and lacy curtains.

The young girls are shown growing up and daring the world, finding where they all belong and how they are alike yet very different. The film brings back great memories of the time through the use of great music and ties to certain events that impacted the generation. The happiness and innocence of the decade is found on the country roads and soda shops as the girls plan their adventures. Silly crushes and fights with boys are inevitable along with all the challenges of growing up imperfect. All of the fun of childhood is represented here, the cemetery séances, tree-house meetings, excursions on bicycles, splashes in the river, sneaking out the bedroom window at night and childhood friendships that should last a lifetime. I found this film inspiring and insightful, but then I came from the same generation so I can totally relate. So I watch it every now and then for the sweetness and the memories of a great childhood.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch it with your daughter!, August 16, 2000

By 

"debbie-n-va" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Now & Then [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I bought this movie after renting it when it first came out. I recently watched it with my teenaged daughter. We loved it. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and can relate to a lot of what the girls were going through during that stage in their lives. I love the scene where the girls steal the boys clothes, the part where Roberta finds her sexuality (kissing) during the whole time she desperately tries to hide her budding figure! There are som sad scenes but overall it is great. The mom's boyfriend, Bud, certainly looked like some of the characters my divorced mom brought home during the 70's and I related totally to Samantha's disgust and distaste for him (any one who was not her father). Watch this movie and enjoy becaus there is something for the young and the young at heart.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, wow. I loved this movie. I watched it over and over...., July 25, 1999

By 

Claire Hennessy (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Now & Then [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is just brilliant! It's amazing! It's about four girls who meet up twenty years later and it's just brilliant! Most of it is set in the summer of 1970, and it's great fun to watch. My favourite character was Samantha, played by Gaby Hoffman at 12 and Demi Moore at 32. I liked the other three as well: Teeny (Thora Birch, Melanie Griffith), Chrissy (Ashleigh Aston Moore, Rita Wilson) and Roberta (Christina Ricci, Rosie O' Donnell). All the actors were great and it's a star-studded cast featuring Janeane Garafolo and Brendan Frasier in cameos. There's only one actress making her debut, Ashleigh Aston Moore, and she gives a stunning performance as 12-year-old Chrissy. You will do anything to get your hands on this video!!!