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That Was Then... This Is Now (1985)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 9/21

ThenNow
9/21: Well, that's interesting: Emilio Estevez wrote an adapted screenplay.

That Was Then... This Is Now is the final S.E. Hinton book to be converted into a movie and is the first not to star Matt Dillon. At least, Emilio Estevez can share the same claim of fame with him by appearing in three out of four such pictures. He started writing the screenplay during the filming of Tex, having been touched by the book; eventually, his father Martin bought movie rights to it.

Cast for the role that feels mostly tailor-made for Matt Dillon, Craig Sheffer does an admirable job of making me realize that he was actually an actor before A River Runs Through It came along. Emilio Estevez plays an unlikeable character, reminding me too much of how he was in St. Elmo's Fire. Morgan Freeman is in the early stage of his budding acting career.

I knew Mark was trouble from the start, and he's a dangerous influence. His brain was apparently broken. Bryon had to cut him off for good, so he could try to live a normal life. Of all S.E. Hinton's book-to-movie adaptations, Tex is the best. That Was Then... This Is Now finishes in second place but is not even close to the winner. Evincing almost the same feel, both are far better than The Outsiders and Rumble Fish which are bad pictures with lots of style but little substance.

The trouble with That Was Then... This Is Now is that it's not convincing and the ending is weak. The message doesn't come through to me strongly as it should. I'm not sure if it's the lack of acting talent or it needs Matt Dillon or it's an issue with the director. Then again, Christopher Cain did do mediocre movies throughout his career. Perhaps it's a redundant topic in the last three S.E. Hinton films, having explored teen angst and class issues once too many times.

All in all, That Was Then... This Is Now is a nice try but no cigar.