User reviews

That Was Then, This Is Now is the story of two working class youths who look like they are on a street to nowhere in their lives.

After his parents killed themselves, Emilio Estevez is taken in by his best friend Craig Sheffer and his mom Barbara Babcock. The two of them get in all kinds of trouble. But Sheffer is starting to think that may be if I grow up their just might be a future for him.

Estevez is carrying a lot around, many of us do and we react to it in different ways. Estevez is on the road to career criminality. He gets involved in deeper and deeper and threatens to bring Sheffer in with him if Sheffer does not heed the better angels of his nature.

The key scene is when we learn as Estevez confides to Scheffer just what it is he's carrying inside. Some of the best acting in both their careers.

Hollywood has done very well with S.E. Hinton novels. That Was Then This Is Now is right up there with Tex, Rumblefish. and The Outsiders. This one managed to get done without Matt Dillon.

I recommend it highly.

My grade 10 ESL students read the book and then watched this film version. They were not impressed at all and everyone agreed that it is not a good portrayal of the book. Some essential scenes are missing such as Mike Chamber's story which helps the reader really understand the motivation behind Bryon's change of heart. It would really have not been that difficult to just follow what was written in the book. Someone needs to be blamed for this poor excuse of a film!

The desperate male students in the class were hoping that the Angela character would have been as hot as she is described in the book!

Read the book instead.

I always loved S.E. Hinton's novels as a kid: The Outsiders, Rumble Fish (which in my opinion, is the greatest film adaptation in the series despite everyone's fascination with The Outsiders), Tex, and That Was Then This is Now.

'That Was Then, This is Now' was the last film adaptation (although the TV series for 'The Outsiders' follows five years later after the release of this movie). I would've attribute the mediocrity of the movie, or at least the inability to really put forth all that the novel did, was because it was not directed by Francis Ford Coppola (who directs 'The Outsiders,' and does a fabulous job with 'Rumble Fish'), except 'Tex,' which was a pretty good movie, was likewise not directed by Coppola.

I think it is in part the chemistry among the characters. The whole mood looks like something out of a music video, with Craig Scheffer coming off more like a guy who broke off a long relationship with a girlfriend rather than dealing with a rambunctious brother (in addition to other things). Plus, as another viewer already mentioned, they shifted the focus on characters so that superstar Emilio Esteves becomes the center of attention. Most of S.E. Hinton's novel always portrayed a struggle from the brother who is looking out at things that, by his perception, have become (or always were) seriously out of control. (See 'Tex' and 'Rumble Fish'). And yes, they unfortunately acquiesced to the Hollywood happy ending, and in the sappiest way, despite all of the problems that the characters endure.

Unlike previous adaptations of Hinton's novels, even those not directed by Coppola, they really fail to portray the struggles that the characters realize in the book. And, lack of developing the story on this point really makes you only half appreciate the characters and their conflicts (and in this case, not even their resolution).

Only thing wrong with this movie-- the decision to "update" the story to make it contemporary. Some novels lend themselves to that kind of reinterpretation easily, but S.E. Hinton's early works aren't among them. The book, set in the late 60s, was essentially a follow-up to "The Outsiders," picking up a few months after its TV Series left off. The character of Ponyboy was taken out of this film for obvious reasons (why would he still be 16 in 1985?), but other Outsiders (most notably Tim Shepard) remained intact without aging a day-- effectively destroying any continuity it might have had with the film it was undoubtedly cashing in on. As result of this questionable rewrite, the novel's focus on the greaser/soc conflict dying off is completely absent, as are other time period-specific subplots. Perhaps the filmmakers wanted this to stand on its own from Coppola's then-recent "Outsiders" adaptation, but this likely hurt "That Was Then...This Is Now" in more ways than it helped it.

I read the book for this movie and it was really good and very emotional to read as the characters change. The movie how ever is so ridiculous it's funny. For some reason it was changed to the 80's instead of the 60's which completely ruined the movie for me also making the sheppards immortal by doing this. Also since in the 80's it got rid of the hippies and changed it to punks but it is hard to take people that are supposed to be mean seriously when they're wearing a mesh tank top and eyeliner. And the way it's shot is just ridiculous and very over dramatic (classic 80's) but a great movie for a great laugh if I'm being honest.

Yikes. This movie was not very good. The book was okay, not great. I still managed to slightly enjoy both. But really, the movie was pretty bad. The acting was pretty bad, except for Emilio Estivez who actually was enduring and cute. And of course, Morgan Freeman was awesome as he always is but his part wasn't major in this movie. The main character, Bryon, was sometimes enjoyable to watch and sometimes hard to watch. He's cute so that helps, but his acting wasn't great and it ruined some of the scenes. Cathy was cute too but her acting was pretty bad. Particularly, when she was driving the car when M&M was hallucinating. It was horrible. She had no emotion just like when she was in the hospital waiting room with her dad. She's not a good actress. And even Angela wasn't a great actress. The book was okay - somewhat enjoyable and besides the ending, the movie was true to the book. But there was so much more going on in the book, so much more detail (as is usually the case). The movie did a horrible job replicating that. I feel sorry for SE Hinton that her story was so poorly portrayed. Yikes.

"That Was Then...This Is Now" followed the book relatively closely up until the last scenes. I thought the acting could have been better, and I think it would have been a better movie if they had left it in the time period the book was in. Despite this, I thought it was pretty good, and I liked it until the last few scenes. The book was so powerful and real in the last chapters- and the movie took all of this out. I thought it would have been a good ending- for a whole different movie, for "That Was Then...", it was wrong, and in my opinion ruined the movie.

....should have stayed as one of those things that are always on the back burner! You know, that one kooky dream that just never materializes? If that was the case, I could see giving good 'ole Emilio a pat on the head and saying "That's it kid...keep reaching for the stars! Someday...just someday...you'll make it"!

However, the sad fact is that Emilio made this movie. Hinton sold the rights, and that's OK. Emilio took the project and added his unique "brat-pack" qualities to it. So, the time frame is different. From 70's lifestyles to 80's. Crashpads to break dancing. Blue jeans to neon spandex. Harsh language is added. Mark and Bryon now swear like sailors.

I can't say anymore about this film because my head is starting to hurt and I'm afraid my brain will explode. The class I work with will be posting their replies soon, so I now give you their unjaded opinions.

I originally watched this movie as a late night movie in the 90s and thought it was OK. I re-watched it recently as I enjoy old 80s movies for the nostalgia; particularly movies starring Estevez. I didn't realize this movie had any connection to SE Hinton so I held no bias regarding a comparison with the novel.

When I watched The Outsiders (having no familiarity with that novel either), the greasers came across as a little too sugary sweet at times; but that's just my opinion. The Outsiders was a good movie but I didn't relate to the 50s time period and I held no particular affection to the story since it was not a novel I read growing up. Though I do understand that this is not a sequel to The Outsiders, this movie feels like it's in a completely different universe than The Outsiders; the sets of movie take place in the big-city while The Outsiders takes place in small town America. I actually found this movie more relatable when I watched this in my younger years, though I can see how it might be a miss to someone familiar with the novel.

While the novel was to take place in the 60's, this is clearly set in the 80s as evidenced by the clothing. Bryon's (Scheffer) clothes on the date scene are quintessentially 80s - an oversized shirt with rolled up sleeves & puffy Bulgle Boy style pants. Mark (Estevez) is wearing a green pastel shirt with rolled up sleeves. Also, Terry starts spitting out that clumsy 80s hip-hop rap. A 66' Thunderbird is featured in the movie that's offered by Charlie but that single prop didn't impress on me that this was taking place in the 60s. I actually appreciate the 80s feel as it made the movie more relatable when I watched it in my younger years (early 90s for me). On the other hand, I have to wonder if this was an attempt to make the movie more commercially successful by trying to assimilate with many other 80s teen coming-of-age stories being released at that time.

Even with a screenplay adaptation, the writing is insightful. Most coming of age stories have a happy ending where this one is less hopeful - some folks will grow up while others won't. There's a sadness when Bryon and Mark realize things are changing. To me, this is the most impactful and relatable scene in the movie. The other scene with depth is Bryon coming to realize that he can't control Mark's actions and behavior. It's a shame that more of today's teen movies don't delve into these heavy topics. I can appreciate any narrative that treats teens as adults as a young people tend to meet the expectations set on them.

That being said, the characterizations are a bit off. Mark and Bryon come across as more of jocks - not the kind of group that would casually steal cars and laugh about it. Bryon wants to put the silly behavior behind him so his more clean cut appearance makes sense but you never actually see much of a conversion from delinquent to being clean cut besides Mark razzing him about being a drag and commenting about how, in the past, he wouldn't so easily let go of rival's slights.

Had more been revealed about Mark and Bryon's back story as delinquents, it would have made the theme of maturity and growing up more impactful. Mark could have worn clothes more akin to John Bender in Breakfast Club rather than the letter-jacket adorned by Estevez's jock character in the same movie. This alone would have better pointed out the juxtaposition of Bryon growing up while Mark was hanging on to his troubled younger years. Regardless, in my opinion, Estevez does pull off playing the role of a hoodlum.

Though a bit disjointed, I still really enjoy the movie. I actually re-watch this one from time to time for late night entertainment.

Mark Jennings (Emilio Estevez) and Bryon Douglas (Craig Sheffer) are best friends and juvenile delinquents. Bryon falls for the new girl in school who turns out to be an old acquaintance, Cathy Carlson (Kim Delaney). His ex Angela Shepard is jealous. He starts to be more responsible which concerns Mark. Mark and Bryon hustle at pool, and get their bar owner friend Charlie Woods (Morgan Freeman) killed. Mark cuts off drunken Angela's hair. Her thuggish brothers come looking for revenge on Bryon's face. Cathy's little brother M&M is hospitalized on drugs from Mark. The friendship cracks under the pressure.

I used to read S.E. Hinton religiously once upon a time. It has a melodramatic teen coming-of-age mentality. They work on the page. They have the 50's 'Rebel Without a Cause' sensibility. The modern world can clash with that sensibility. It can seem overwrought and out of place. This one fails that test from time to time. It probably should have stayed in the earlier time period rather than trying to bring it into the modern world. Estevez is a solid delinquent. This is a valiant but flawed effort.

I was born in 1970. While many movies such as Pretty In Pink, etc. were bigger hits, these movies along with a couple of others were incredibly important in what it means to be a friend, what it meant to grow up, and what it meant to grow up in the 80's. It wasn't a "great" movie, but it was a great movie for me and is a great movie about growing up, deciding what is important, forming morals. Will be on my buy list when I get a little money.

Buddies Bryon (Craig Sheffer) and Mark (Emilio Estevez) have grown up together in the same house after a tragedy in Mark's family. In their last year of high school, the two begin to grow apart as Bryon sees a different future and Mark wants to continue his hellraising ways. Based on the novel by S. E. Hinton (who also authored The Outsiders and Tex), this movie is a combination of good and bad. Director Christopher Cain handles it all well, but sometimes the script (by Emilio Estevez, his first foray behind the camera) is overly melodramatic. Sheffer is good as the lead and Morgan Freeman is great in a important supporting role. They filmed in Minnesota, so like similar films such as Reckless (1984), it captures that area of America well.

Childhood friendship ends when one of the boys discovers girls and leaves his wingman behind. Jilted friend resorts to cockblocking.

Bad writing and bad acting served up in equal doses. Awful soundtrack. Unlikeable characters across the board. Terrible cinematography.

Someone owes it to the author of "The Outsiders" to remake her book into a better movie.

Rated R for Language,Drug Content and Some Violence.

That Was Then This Is Now is a film based on the S.E Hinton novel of the same name.S.E Hinton is a great author and I have read most of her books.The Outsiders is her best book,this is her second best,rumble fish is her third best and Taming The Star Runner is her fourth best.While Rumble Fish is her third best novel, it is the greatest adaptation from the original novel to the film.It was directed by Coppola who also directed the Outsiders film.That however was not so faithful to the original novel and I did not like it very much.Now this was not directed by Coppola, it was written by Emilio Estevez who also stars in it.While its more of a faithful adaptation than outsiders, it still could have been more faithful.The movie is about a teen named Bryon and his friend Mark who lives with him after his parents killed each other.They both used to do everything together but now Bryon has a girlfriend named Cathy and Mark is jealous of her.They also need money to pay for Bryon's mothers operation so Mark starts selling drugs to hippies including Cathy's little brother M&M.The character M&M is much different in the film.In the novel he is an innocent freshman student, in this film he's basically a normal teen who makes sex remarks.Also the endings of the two differ.Anyway That Was Then This Is Now is a decent movie but not as good as the book.

That Was Then...This Is Now is decent 80s Teen film and although it is filled with good direction and great performances it is still the weakest S.E Hinton film adaptation but still has good things about it.

Based on S.E Hinton's novel,That Was Then...This Is Now tells the story of Bryon(Craig Sheiffer)and Mark(Emilo Estevez)two teens that have been best friends since childhood almost like brothers,stealing cars,getting Into fights with rivals,and living carefree, but when Bryon starts dating a girl from their childhood named Cathy(Kim Delaney),a tragic event that changes their lives and their teenage years fading away they both realize that That Was Then...This Is Now.

S.E Hinton is one of my favorite authors and I had seen the film adaptations The Outsiders,Rumble Fish and Tex and loved them and also read her books and loved them as well. That Was Then...This Is Now was a great book that I loved but was the only film adaptation I hadn't seen. I finally saw this film and while the film is not as good as the book there is still some good and decent things about the film. The movie That Was Then...This Is Now is easily the weakest of the S.E Hinton film adaptations and they're things that work and don't work. One of the things that works is the main characters,realistic feel and atmosphere. Bryon and Mark's relationship in the film authentic and real and you feel like they could be real brothers,especially since they're living in a harsh setting and you feel like Bryon and Mark would have each other's back no matter what. When things start to fall apart for Bryon and Mark and the characters start arguing and fighting with each other and Bryon and Mark's friendship and since of brotherhood starts to become strained and it's very believable and at times sad. The film depicts a dark and dangerous teenage world where things such as gang violence,fighting,drug use and drinking seems to always be the norm for Bryon and Mark as well as other characters who going by the laws of the streets and the film's atmosphere is sometimes very bleak and downbeat. The film also has a dark,gritty film-noir feel to it that you didn't see a lot in Teen Films at the time with great harsh lighting and photography and that's one of the things that I like about the film is that the photography gives the film a since of darkness and reality. Although the movie is well filmed and has great lighting it lacks the great and powerful cinematic feel that the other S.E Hinton movie adaptations The Outsiders,Rumble Fish and Tex had. The screenplay written by Estevez while good lacks the emotional punch that Hinton's novel had and the screenplay feels limited. Where In Hinton's novel we got to know more about the characters and there was more scenes with the characters,in the film we know the characters but there Isn't enough time in the film for development for the characters and the friendship between Bryon and Mark feels underdeveloped and small in the film compared to the book. I don't understand why the location and time period were changed from Oklahoma to Minnesota from 60's to 80's. I guess one of the main reasons the time period was changed was because of budget costs,but the location and time period change killed some of the important elements in the book and I guess Paramount Pictures and the filmmakers wanted something that teens in the 80s could relate to. And speaking of changes the biggest change and difference from the book is the movie's ending which destroy's the greatness of the novel's ending and it rings completely false. Where's the novel's ending was more powerful and sad the movie's is predictable and didn't belong in this film. Maybe because the novel's ending was very sad and truly pessimistic the ending had to change because in the 1980s optimistic endings were more accepted and sad endings such as the sad ending in the book weren't allowed during the 1980s. It's not Emilio Estevez's fault though blame Paramount Studios who told Estevez to change the ending in his screenplay.

The cast does a good job in their roles. Emilio Estevez(who also wrote the screenplay)does a excellent job as Mark,bringing humor,anger and sadness to the role. Craig Sheiffer does a fantastic job as Bryon and has an good chemistry with Estevez. Morgan Freeman does a great job as Charlie the bartender the only grown up friend of Bryon and Mark. Kim Delaney does a wonderful job as Cathy,Bryon's girlfriend. Jill Schoelen gives a fabulous performance as Angela,Bryon's ex-girlfriend. Barbara Babcock is wonderful as Bryon's mom. Frank Howard does a great job as M&M,Cathy's spaced-out brother. Larry B. Scott gives a funny and memorable performance as Bryon and Mark's friend Terry.

Christopher Cain does a fine job directing the film,bringing lots of energy and atmosphere to the film and always moving the camera.

The score by Bill Cuomo and Keith Olsen is good and adds to the film's tone and feel. I also like songs Just Another Day(Oingo Boingo)and the title song That Was Then...This Is Now(Randy Wayne and Carroll Sue Hill).

Overall That Was Then...This Is Now is a decent film on It's own with fine acting from the cast and good direction,but as an adaptation of the novel it's lacks what made the book so great. Recommended 7.5/10.

In English class, we read S.E. Hinton's saga of teenage angst. The students were enthralled with the story. While the setting was from years past, the ethical questions raised and the teenage situations were quite apropos. The story generated a great deal of quality discussion in class...education at it's finest.

The movie, however, was a bit of a disappointment for us. Taken by itself, it was a fine example of 80's brat-packish fluff. It was formulamatic, but entertaining. One could hardly say that the movie was based on the book, though. Bryon's personal growth journey and coming of age, so well illustrated in the novel, was sacrificed to car chases and Hollywood's penchant for tidy endings, in the movie.

While I would recommend both, I would caution that they are two separate stories, sharing the same character names. Perhaps there is the lesson: You cannot watch the movie to get out of reading the book! .

This is a very poor adaption of one of S.E. Hinton's best novels. The characterizations are quite off the mark, and there is little to no development of situations and characters. Periodically the viewer is thrown into really weak attempts at "deep", philosophical dialogue from out of nowhere - straight out of the book but oddly out of place in this disjointed film.

The acting is not much better. Only Frank Howard (as M&M) and Morgan Freeman (as Charlie) really make their roles believable. Emilio Estevez, perhaps due to the script itself, never makes Mark the character he needs to be to actually propel the story in the right direction.

All I can make of this film is an attempt at grabbing the same attention as "The Outsiders", another (and much better) film adaption of a S.E. Hinton novel. Both books/films have a few characters in common, some similar themes, and Emilio Estevez. "That was then..." just doesn't work out.

That Was Then... This Is Now is one of the best early performances of Emilo Estvez as a writer and actor. Estevz brings Mark to life they way S.E.Hinton intened by being brutal and cut throat in his performace. All of the actors in the film give equally good performacnes in particular Morgan Freemen and Craig Sheffer. A underlooked gem.