Beaches

PG-13

12/21/19882h 3m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ Some Friendships Last Forever ~

Overview:

A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.

Director:

Garry Marshall

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$20,000,000.00

Revenue:

$57,041,866.00

Key words:

loss of loved one
female friendship
class differences
buddy
death of mother
childhood friends
dying young
cardiomyopathy
loving
dramatic
intense
adoring
comforting

Cast

Bette Midler

~ as ~

CC Bloom

Barbara Hershey

~ as ~

Hillary Whitney Essex

John Heard

~ as ~

John Pierce

Spalding Gray

~ as ~

Dr. Richard Milstein

Lainie Kazan

~ as ~

Leona Bloom

James Read

~ as ~

Michael Essex

Grace Johnston

~ as ~

Victoria Essex

Mayim Bialik

~ as ~

CC (age 11)

Marcie Leeds

~ as ~

Hillary (age 11)

Carol Williard

~ as ~

Aunt Vesta

View full cast & crew

Reviews (3)

Wuchak
Written 4 year(s) ago
6
Entertaining “Chick flick” with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey

Two preadolescent girls meet on the beach and become lifelong friends living on two different coasts. The brassy CC Bloom (Bette Midler) is a performer living in New York City while the classy, but reserved Hillary (Barbara Hershey) lives on the West Coast. Bubbly Mayim Bialik appears as the 11 year-old version of CC in the opening act while likable John Heard has a fairly notable part.

“Beaches” (1988) is an 80’s “chick flick” that throws in drama, realistic comedy, romance, Broadway entertainment and music. It’s also known as a tearjerker, but it didn’t literally move me in that sense, although I’m sure it would some people. It effectively shows the ups and downs of a long-lasting friendship. Fans of Midler or Hershey will no doubt like it more than me.

The film runs 2 hours, 3 minutes, and was shot California and New York City.

GRADE: B-/C+
k
kevin2019
Written 1 year(s) ago
6
"Beaches" is an earnest and well meaning film throughout that always favours the overbearing and self important Bette Midler at the expense of the much more insipid Barbara Hershey as it endeavours to tackle the notion of a friendship which spans decades and supersedes all other considerations, but such a misplaced and lofty ambition as this is often an almost impossible aspiration to realistically achieve during a two hour period so we are consequently rushed through a sketchy succession of highs and lows of two lives with no real sense of any emotional bonds developing or being ruthlessly torn asunder during the passing decades and no opportunity to really get to know about any of the characters and subsequently there is no reason to care about what happens to any of them in an unmemorable and superficial film which is an amazing underachievement on every level.
CinemaSerf
Written 11 month(s) ago
7
There's something quite uncanny about the resemblance between the young "CC" (Mayim Mialik) and Bette Midler who plays her adult self in this quite touching story of lifelong friendship. That all starts when this ordinary youngster meets the well-heeled "Hillary" (Marcie Leeds then Barbara Hershey) and despite being from opposite sides of the tracks, they begin to bond. The former has a love of all things showbiz but isn't exactly getting her name up in lights as she gets older. Her friend had a much better starting position and builds up a successful legal career as well as having a daughter with a man that they are both rather keen on! Things take a much more serious turn for the couple, though, when some bad news puts all of their lives in a perspective that requires both women to readjust for what's now inevitable. It's one of those stories that shows quite effectively how difficult lifelong friendships can be to maintain. They write to each other, they meet now and again, but it's never a straightforward momentum that keeps them aligned nor one that prepares them for what life throws at them. The characterisation of "CC" allows for Midler to belt out a few memorable numbers along the way - "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "Under the Boardwalk" maybe being the two best suited for her powerful vocals and it stays just the right side of sentiment allowing the pair to portray quite distinctly powerful characters emotionally, sometimes comically, and engagingly.