That Was Then... This Is Now

Troubled teen Mark Jennings has always looked up to his older friend, Bryon Douglas, who Mark sees as the older brother he never had. But when Bryon starts dating Cathy Carlson and begins to act more responsible, Mark feels left out. Without Bryon's stabilizing influence, Mark begins acting out and gets into dealing drugs. After the friends' mentor Charlie Woods suddenly dies and Cathy's brother goes missing, Bryon suspects Mark is involved.

• Craig Sheffer as Bryon Douglas
• Emilio Estevez as Mark Jennings
• Jill Schoelen as Angela Shepard
• Larry B. Scott as Terry Jones
• Kim Delaney as Cathy Carlson
• Barbara Babcock as Mrs. Douglas
• Frank Howard as M&M Carlson
• Morgan Freeman as Charlie Woods
• Francis X. McCarthy as Mr. Carlson
• Diane Dorsey as Mrs. Carlson
• Ramon Estevez AKA Ramon Sheen as Mike Chambers
• Dan Lyon as "Car" Guy
• Sharon Thomas as Doctor

In 1982, Emilo Estevez co-starred in the film version of S.E. Hinton's Tex. During filming, Estevez read That Was Then, This Is Now, also by Hinton, and enjoyed the book so much he drafted several screenplays before purchasing the rights. Estevez described the book as "a very intense, dark piece. It's kind of like the old Pat O'Brien-Jimmy Cagney movies where O'Brien becomes the priest and Cagney becomes the gangster". Estevez did a rewrite of the film during the making of The Breakfast Club, staying up all night to write after the typical 12 hour filming day. After speaking with Hinton, who recommended he also play one of the characters, Estevez attempted to sell the screenplay, but studios were reluctant.{{Cite news |author=Caulfield, DEBORAH |date=February 20, 1985 |title="BREAKFAST CLUB": FOOD FOR THOUGHT ON A YOUTH FILM A YOUNG TURK NAMED ESTEVEZ |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-02-20-ca-479-story.html}}

Estevez' father Martin Sheen bought the rights to That Was Then, This Is Now in 1982.{{Cite news|author=Smith, D.|date=Jul 15, 1982|title=Hinton: What boys are made of|work=Los Angeles Times |id={{ProQuest|153190542}}}}{{Cite news |date=October 8, 1982 |author=Christian Williams |title=Hinton on the scene |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/10/08/hinton-on-the-scene/341ba4c6-a12e-45f8-879c-7d5ab72776d7/}} "I knew it would be hot", said Estevez of the novel, who said in 1983 he wanted to star along with Tom Cruise.{{Cite news|author=Deans, L.|date=Apr 8, 1983|title=LA CLIPS thomas howell: An outsider who feels left out|work=The Globe and Mail|id={{ProQuest|386670534}}}} Estevez found two Midwest producers interested in making the film and they succeeded in raising the finance. One of them, Gary Lindberg, ran a production company that mostly made TV commercials, based in Minnesota. The film was shot in the summer of 1984 in St. Paul, Minnesota, without a distributor. It was later advertised as "the first Minnesota movie".

Sheen recommended his son play Bryon Douglas, but Estevez, wary of being typecast, chose to play what he saw as the "sympathetic bad guy". Estevez said: "There's probably a lot of him in me, the alter ego screaming to get out every once in a while. Fortunately, I was able to vent it in a film and not in real life".{{Cite news |author=Blau, R. |date=Oct 31, 1985 |title=EMILIO ESTEVEZ: A HOT YOUNG ACTOR VENTURES INTO RISKY NEW ROLES |work=Chicago Tribune |id={{ProQuest|290878425}}}}

Estevez said that they have been able to learn from the other Hinton adaptations: "We made it very contemporary, hired a brilliant cinematographer. The cast is primarily unknowns so it has a real feel – you're not watching movie stars. The emotional content is so rich, so full, it's absolutely draining. It's a terrific movie".{{Cite news |date=June 26, 1985 |author=Paula Span |title=Emilio estevez, seriously |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/06/26/emilio-extevez-seriously/217a670b-a74e-4fcc-8e3d-83e2945d7c2b/}}

The film opened November 8, 1985 and finished sixth place for the weekend with a gross of $2,502,780, behind other openers such as Target and Translyvania 6-5000.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=November 13, 1985|page=3|title=Fatigued B.O. Not Helped By Bows; 'Wish' Still Leads}} It was a minor success at the box office, grossing $8.6 million.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 0% rating based on 5 reviews.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/that_was_thenthis_is_now/ |title = That Was Then... This Is Now |work=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2022-01-01}} On Metacritic it has a score of 45% based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web |title=That Was Then... This Is Now |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/that-was-then-this-is-now |website=Metacritic |access-date=2022-01-01}}

That Was Then... This Is Now was released on VHS by Paramount Home Video in 1986.

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0090151}}
• {{Mojo title|thatwasthenthisisnow}}

{{Christopher Cain}}

Category:1985 drama films

Category:1980s English-language films

Category:1980s American films

Category:1980s coming-of-age drama films

Category:1985 films

Category:American coming-of-age drama films

Category:Films about drugs

Category:Films based on American novels

Category:Films set in the 1960s

Category:Films shot in Minnesota

Category:Paramount Pictures films

Category:Films directed by Christopher Cain