Twenty-five years later, thefour now-adults reunitein their hometown of Shelby, Ind.
to support Chrissy, played byRita Wilson, as she gives birth to her first child.
Here are the things only adults notice inNow and Then.
That’s not even mentioning the answering machines and the VCR in Teeny’s limousine.
But what’s almost more striking is how much has changed behavior-wise since 1995.
Worse, Sam is a chainsmoker, and she and Teenysmokearound pregnant Chrissy without anyone mentioning it.
Roberta then alerts Teeny by flashing a light in her window, and Teeny calls Chrissy on a walkie-talkie.
She even has her couch wrapped in plastic.
No wonder Samantha and Teeny exchange their fair share of eye-rolling as they listen to Chrissy.
ButunlikePLL, which ran from 2010 to 2017,Now and Thencame at the beginning of King’s career.
However, the small role still established a rapport between Garofalo and the younger actresses she filmed alongside.
At all,“Ricci toldMovelineat the time.
“Maybe short, but not fat.
And I do have a neck.”
So,they go visit Wiladene, Shelby’s resident psychic to see if she has any answers.
There’s a dramatic moment where Wiladene pulls the Death card.
As a kid watchingNow and Then, these cards seem like omens.
Yes, these can both be scary things, but they are not harbingers of actual doom.
Roberta asks if he killed anyone.
“Not because I wanted to,” he responds.
One of the girls asks, “But we’re winning, right?”
He replies, “Nobody’s winning.”
Budding cynic Roberta says nobody can believe in anything anymore.
He responds, “you’re free to believe in yourself.
If you’re lucky.”
Inan interview withEntertainment Weekly,Now and Then’s writerI.
Marlene Kingdiscussed the dichotomy of idealism and transition during the ’70s.
“It was a very special time to grow up.
And a garden needs a big hose to water it.
Or a small hose, as long as it works.”
As a result, Chrissy becomes obsessed with gardening and essentially becomes her own mother.
WhenSam’s parents' divorcewas announced that summer, she became unable to trust.
As far as I can tell they are a**holes.”
Later in the summer of 1970, Teeny says to Sam, “There are no perfect families.
It’s normal for it to be s***ty.”
But it’s the Pete Simms (Walter Sparrow) sub-plot that packs an emotional wallop inNow and Then.
I don’t think they like to see a lot of me."
Later, Pete also tells her, “Things will happen in your life that you could’t stop.
But that’s no reason to shut out the world.”
Watching as an adult, Pete’s words do resonate differently.
On another occasion, Teeny says straight to Chrissy’s face, “Youarefat.”
Chrissy does her fair share of shaming on her own, though.
She shames tomboyish Roberta, saying, “Why can’t you just act like a girl?!”
Someone needs to teach you to act like a girl!"
And poor Pete, whom everyone calls “crazy,” isn’t actually crazy at all.
He’s an old traumatized manstill grieving the loss of his familyand has been socially ostracized by the town.
However, Shelby, Ind.
A lot happened to them that summer, and it’s a miracle they all lived.
That doesn’t mean the real-life young actors starring inNow and Thenwere watching the same, though.
SinceMoore played the adult version of Samantha, that means little Rumer played the sis of her real-life mom.
Of the role,Willis toldElle, “My dad says I was an extra inDie Hard.
I think it’s true.
ButNow and Thenwas the first real thing.
All these amazing people.
I just really liked being on set because I had grown up doing it.”
The language in Now and Then was salty for a teen film!
Watching it as a preteen or teen in the ’90s, that probably made you feel pretty cool.
However, the salty language didn’t interfere with the movie’s PG-13 rating.
In fact,Common Sense Mediadeems it appropriatefor ages 12 and older.
One evening during that eventful summer of 1970,Scott runs into Roberta as she’s practicing basketball.
First Scott mumbles, “Can I kiss you?”
He then enunciates when he asks again.
Roberta considers his question and accepts.
After all, it spawned the best pick-up line of all time: “Can I keep you?”
But inan interview withUs Weeklyin 2016, Sawa set the record straight.
“Someone had written that me and Christina [Ricci] had a thing, which wasn’t true.
We were all so young and so innocent.”
InNow and Then, it was also a drifter who passed through Shelby, Ind.
in 1945, who shoots Dear Johnny and his mother for what little they had in the house.
Part of that includes ostracizing the surviving family member, Pete Simms.
The scenehearkensIt, theclassic 1990 horror flick, which wasrebooted in 2017.
I’m serious, I can’t deal with it anymore, I will walk off set!'
So they heated the water and I wore a wet suit,“she revealed toIndex Magazine.
Adults can absolutely relate.
There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in our minds.
But as adults, this gets more and more complicated.
Sometimes friends just grow apart.
As an adult watchingNow and Then, this is arguably the most powerful aspect of the movie.
