Beaches

**Beaches** is a 1988 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall based on Iris Rainer Dart's novel of the same name, which was released by Touchstone Pictures on December 21, 1988.

## Plot

The film tells the story of a privileged rich debutante (Barbara Hershey) and a cynical, struggling entertainer (Bette Midler), who share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.

## Cast

* Bette Midler as Cecilia Carol "C.C." Bloom
	+ Mayim Bialik as 11-year-old Cecilia Carol "C.C." Bloom
* Barbara Hershey as Hillary Whitney
	+ Marcie Leeds as 11-year-old Hillary Whitney
* John Heard as John Pierce
* Spalding Gray as Dr. Richard Milstein
* James Read as Michael Essex
* Lainie Kazan as Leona Bloom
* Grace Johnston as Victoria Essex
* Lynda Goodfriend as Mrs. Myandowski
* Tracy Reiner as Department Store Clerk
* Jenifer Lewis as Diva
* Joe Grifasi as Otto Titsling
* Phil Leeds as Sammy Pinkers

## Production

Principal photography for "Beaches" began on April 26, 1988 and ended in July of 1988. Filming primarily took place in California and New York.

The boardwalk scenes were filmed at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York; Hilary's house was filmed in Pasadena, California; and the beach house scenes were filmed at cottage #13 in what is now the Crystal Cove Historic District in Crystal Cove State Park in California.

According to Shelley Winters in a 1989 appearance on the "Sally Jessy Raphael" show, Bette Midler wanted her to play C.C.'s mother in this film, but she turned it down because she was afraid she wouldn't pass the insurance exam.

The role of C.C.'s mother was given to Lainie Kazan, who originally didn't want to play the role, but she eventually said yes in order to work with Bette Midler.

Mayim Bialik didn't actually sing on camera. Bette Midler wanted someone who sounded like she did at that age, so they used someone else's voice to do her singing.

Barbara Hershey had collagen lip injections to make herself look younger in the film; at the time of filming, she was 40 years old and was playing the role of Hilary from college age to her mid-30s.

Anne Archer and Donna Mills both auditioned for the role of Hillary Essex as an adult. Taylor Neff was considered for the role of 11-year-old Hilary which was ultimately given to Marcie Leeds.

## Box Office

"Beaches" grossed $198,361 during its opening weekend. Overall, it grossed $57,041,866.

## Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, "Beaches" has an approval rating of 40% based on 42 reviews with an average rating of 4.53\10. Critics almost unanimously found the emotional moments in the film to be unearned, calculated, and familiar to the point of being predictable.

Roger Ebert from The Chicago Sun-Times gave "Beaches" a rating of two and a half stars, saying: *"Beaches begins on a note of impending doom, and that colors everything else with an undertone of bittersweet poignancy and, believe me, there is only so much bittersweet poignancy I can take in any one movie."*

Gene Siskel from the Chicago Tribune called the film *"a much too mechanical tearjerker"* and criticized its slow pace, but acknowledged that he heard some sniffling among the audience and gave it two and a half stars.

Also writing for the Chicago Tribune, Dave Kehr stated: *"Beaches is a melodrama in the original sense of the term: a drama with music. And as long as the melo is handled by Bette Midler, who performs half a dozen songs, Beaches can`t be all bad. But the drama, as transacted between Midler and Barbara Hershey, is pretty dreadful."*

Writing for the Orlando Sentinel, Jay Boyar said: *"This is the sort of picture in which people slap each other as they take their marriage vows, suddenly develop life-threatening diseases, and, again, have violent confrontations whenever there's a break in the action. Anything for a laugh, anything for a tear, and nothing much authentic."*

Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times called "Beaches" the *"most shamelessly manipulative movie since they shot the dog in The Biscuit Eater"*, but praised the performances of Bette Midler & Barbara Hershey, admitting that the film succeeded in making her cry.

The Washington Post said that the film *"speaks to women"* while Variety called it an *"engaging tearjerker."*

## Remake

In 2017, "Beaches" was remade into a television film for the Lifetime network, starring Idina Menzel and Nia Long.