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Beaches

Play trailer Poster for Beaches PG-13 1988 2h 3m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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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.
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Beaches

Beaches

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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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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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Trafalgar L @TDWaterLaw93 20h 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 J T @J_view Oct 19 Loved it, Bette is amazing See more Alexa J @RT79070261 Oct 18 A real tear-jerker. I enjoyed the relationship between C.C. and Hillary. See more 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. See more 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. See more Tash T @RT30423705 11/21/2024 One of my favorite movies!! Always makes me cry. If you are a woman and you haven't seen this then you are seriously missing out! See more Read all reviews
Beaches

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Cast & Crew

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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

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Beaches

Beaches (1988) Beaches (1988) Beaches (1988) View more photos

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
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