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Beaches

Play trailer Poster for Beaches PG-13 1988 2h 3m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
41% Tomatometer 46 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Hillary (Barbara Hershey) and CC (Bette Midler) meet as children vacationing in Atlantic City, N.J., and remain friends throughout the decades. As CC, a loud New Yorker, pursues a singing career, Hillary, a staid Californian, becomes a successful lawyer. Over the years, they often quarrel or compete, but, as other relationships flourish and die, the two women are always there for each other, traveling from coast to coast through the most tumultuous times.

Where to Watch

Beaches

Beaches

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Not all great soundtracks make good movies, and Beaches lacks the wind beneath its wings.

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Critics Reviews

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Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune 03/23/2018
2.5/4
Barbara Hershey is wasted in a boring role. Go to Full Review
Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel 03/23/2018
Anything for a laugh, anything for a tear, and nothing much authentic. Go to Full Review
Kim Newman Empire Magazine 03/23/2018
3/5
Beaches epitomises the sort of triple-strength, three-hankie work you can expect from American women with three names and gives the lie to those who thought they stopped making women's pic heartstring-tuggers. Go to Full Review
Richard Freedman Newark Star-Ledger Dec 30
1.5/4
With the possible exception of Hershey, just about everyone in "Beaches" is pretty painful to watch. Go to Full Review
Quentin Crisp Christopher Street 05/07/2024
In Beaches, Miss Midler and Miss Hershey wrangle, forgive, embrace, part, and reunite until I found their antics difficult to comprehend, difficult to believe, and finally difficult to bear. Go to Full Review
Jeffrey Lyons Video Review 08/08/2022
3/4
Once in a while it's okay to enjoy a movie for its own sake -- to let it work you over emotionally, to make you cry when you know you're supposed to cry and laugh when you know a laugh is coming. Beaches is such a movie. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Marvel N @MarvelNerd 18h When I heard that a Broadway show of this was on it's way, I wanted to go immediately. We kept waiting and waiting and waiting for the right time to go. We thought of June! I was so excited as I had never seen the movie but I new Jessica Vosk was Cee Cee Bloom! But then... they cut it short. I ended up not being able to go see it on Broadway so I settled for the original film. While there is a lot of "filler", I really believe that this friendship is shown very well. It's certainly worth a watch. See more Melissa M @Lisey May 17 This movie has a lot of talkity talk. It's interesting dialogue. And it holds your interest which is a good thing because it's a very long film. Garry Marshall was one of the best directors & riders of all time. He could do comedy as well as drama. The movie Chronicles 2 young girls from completely different backgrounds. Hillary is from a rich upper class family. CC is a tough talking girl who comes from Brooklyn. Most of the movie is like one giant long montage. It starts with them as young girls, then preteens & finally fully grown adults. Whose lives go in two completely different directions. There's a lot of narration through letter writing. The movie is very wordy. But it's heart warming & heartfelt. Don't want to give away too much of the movie. no spoiler alerts. It's one of those films no matter how many times you see it. There gets to a certain point in the movie, where you know you're going to need a box of tissues to dry your eyes. See more Edward B @EdwardicusB May 17 The first 10 minutes were heartwarming, and the last 30 minutes are a tear-jerker. In between, it was at it's best a mediocre film. A great example of "I'm glad I saw it once, but I'll never watch it again." See more Natasha R @MsNatasha Apr 12 I was very excited to watch this movie - I love a good story of female friendship. But I felt like each milestone in life was rushed. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Mar 18 A success on home media. See more Trafalgar L @TDWaterLaw93 Mar 14 A very melancholic film with some lighthearted moments that tells a deeply moving story about two women from different backgrounds. One is a struggling singer from the Bronx and the other is a wealthy Californian socialite. Set to songs performed by Bette Midler "Beaches" is often regarded as a great film about friendship. See more Read all reviews
Beaches

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Hillary (Barbara Hershey) and CC (Bette Midler) meet as children vacationing in Atlantic City, N.J., and remain friends throughout the decades. As CC, a loud New Yorker, pursues a singing career, Hillary, a staid Californian, becomes a successful lawyer. Over the years, they often quarrel or compete, but, as other relationships flourish and die, the two women are always there for each other, traveling from coast to coast through the most tumultuous times.
Director
Garry Marshall
Producer
Margaret South, Bette Midler, Bonnie Bruckheimer
Screenwriter
Mary Agnes Donoghue
Distributor
Touchstone Pictures
Production Co
Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV, All Girl Productions
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 21, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$56.4M
Runtime
2h 3m
Sound Mix
Surround