Beaches

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Beaches

PG-13

1988

2h 3m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

41%

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46 Reviews

88%

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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.

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Critics Consensus

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

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

03/23/2018

2.5/4

Barbara Hershey is wasted in a boring role.

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Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

03/23/2018

Anything for a laugh, anything for a tear, and nothing much authentic.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 18

A success on home media.

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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.

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J T

@J_view Oct 19

Loved it, Bette is amazing

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Alexa J

@RT79070261 Oct 18

A real tear-jerker. I enjoyed the relationship between C.C. and Hillary.

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Elleana E

@RT05804775 May 6

First off how old are these women that they are paired with old men. Secondly how fast the doctor got over CC is insane I know it’s a movie but how much time went by maybe 4 months weird. I saw this movie when i was 8 and did have a understanding of time. Now it’s a weird timeline. Bette miller amazing as always. The rest total crap.

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Ashley L

@RT45188393 02/21/2025

About 30 minutes into this film I developed an irrational hatred for the makers of this film for ruining what otherwise would have been a pleasant Sunday afternoon after lunch. Cliched within an inch of its life, you can pretty much predict the next 20 minutes from each scene. The final scene where that bird with a dodgy heart dies quietly in her beach chair - beautiful horse galloping alongside waters edge beneath a glorious sunset - It suddenly dawned on me the Director was in fact taking the piss. There's chick flicks and then there's this. Maybe it was very gentle satire. Or perhaps I should drink more Prosecco. And that bloody song.. Total arse.

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Garry Marshall

Director

Bette Midler

Cecilia 'CC' Carol Bloom

Barbara Hershey

Hillary Whitney Essex

John Heard

John Pierce

Spalding Gray

Dr. Richard Milstein

Lainie Kazan

Leona Bloom

Stella

29%

76%

Stella

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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

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