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Review

Essentially a derivative, inferior female Stand by Me, Now and Then features four inseparable friends who obsess over a dead body, with all of this set against an (obtrusive) oldies soundtrack. Four friends get together for the birth of Wilson's baby; this is the cue for the flashback to the childhood summer which cemented their friendship. Like Rob Reiner's sweet-natured coming-of-age film, not a lot happens to the four protagonists. The basic plot is the girls' determined efforts to get to the mystery of a deceased boy, whose spirit they think they've brought back to life. But whereas Stand by Me was punctuated by subtle direction and a marvelous screenplay, Now and Then only offers the infrequent but admittedly amusing observation of adolesence.