Now and Then (1995)

(On Cable TV, October 2022) There’s an odd sense of serenity that comes in encountering a film that is definitely, defiantly not made for the likes of me. Now and Then is clearly a film aimed at women, as it follows the adventures of four young teenagers in 1970, and the women they became in 1995. In the landscape of 1990s films, it stands out for being made by women as well—with top-line director (Lesli Linka Glatter), writer (I. Marlene King) and producers (Suzanne Todd, Demi Moore) all being female in a decade when such things were much rarer than today.   While the present-day framing device features an impressive list of known names, such as Demi Moore, Rosie O’Donnell, Rita Wilson and Melanie Griffith, the film spends most of its time with their younger selves (played by such notables as Thora Birch and Christina Ricci). Further known actors in the supporting roles include Devon Sawa, Cloris Leachman, Hank Azaria, Bonnie Hunt, Janeane Garofalo and (briefly) Brendan Fraser—so, if nothing else, you can play the spot-the-actor game during slower moments. Like a lot of slice-of-life films focusing on a passage from childhood to teenage years, Now and Then plays heavily on nostalgia, domesticity and the thrill of discovering new things. It’s not bad at those things, although there’s a bit of awkwardness at how it schematizes its mandatory elements in a specific order. Tying ordinary life to historical events such as the Vietnam War is not always successful (and may even work against the intention of dealing with timeless themes—this is clearly a Boomer film now). But the serenity I’ve got in discussing Now and Then is that it doesn’t really matter what I think about it—it’s made for women and that’s fine. It has become a better-regarded film now than upon release, and that’s fine too: the biggest lesson Hollywood has learned since 1995 is that, beyond trying to appeal to all four quadrants, it’s perfectly acceptable for movies to target specific audiences—everyone else can go watch their own movies.