Beaches (1988)

The Worst Film Ever

A lot of fun.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

A thousand points of light, and that's what I think of when I reminisce about Beaches, the movie that brought many to tears. The song "Wing beneath my wings" is a classic, and was written in 1982 by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. Colleen Hewett, an Australian, recorded it in 1983.I wish there was a sequel. There's a sequel book "I'll be there" but what about the movie adaptation? With so many X-Men, Furious cars, Invincibles or whatever, we need a sequel to usher in the next phase of the USA. Also I would like to see who is cast in a sequel. Will Bette Midler make an appearance or just a cameo?Maybe John Pierce can even make an appearance and cause trouble if you know what I mean.

OK, but not great, drama. A story that follows the lives of two women, from their meeting as 11- year olds, their resulting friendship, and then the ups and downs of their relationship, careers and personal lives. Decent enough story and reasonably emotional. However, it feels predictable and unoriginal. While emotionally manipulative, it doesn't really offer anything new on the subject of friendship.Also, thanks to Bette Midler's performance, it often veers into comedy space, and over-the-top comedy at that. While Midler is great in these scenes, it does lighten the mood too much.

Under the Boardwalk, Down by the Sea....With one of the most magical musical moments to open a film, Bette Midler immediately shows what she has in star quality after a series of fun comedies which made her one of the biggest box office queens of the late 1980's. "Beaches", like "The Rose" years before, proved she could do drama, and here she mixes in a spiky personality for great comic effect. Who else could sing a song like "Otto Titsling" and get away with it, lyrics like "Do you buy a titsling or do you buy a brazieere?", one of the most delightfully campy songs in film history. She also gets to sing the Cole Porter standard "I've Still Got My Health" (a song originated by Ethel Merman in "Panama Hattie") and of course her huge hit, "Wind Beneath My Wings", the ode to her character's friendship with the dying Barbara Hershey, a divorced wife and mother who she's known since she was little.C.C. Bloom is her name and tight red curls are her game. She goes from singing telegram girl to Broadway star all the while remaining close to sweet Hilary, the rich girl she met under the boardwalk. The film isn't about the men in their life, rather the devotion these two have to each other that undergoes many obstacles but endures in spite of everything and gives C.C. the opportunity to show what a true friend is really all about. Mayim Bialik plays the young C.C. as if she was Bette shrunken down to a tot and lead her to the lead role in T.V.'s "Blossom". Lainie Kazan makes the most of her role as Bette's overly loving mother who realizes she didn't have enough to give for the attention-starved C.C. John Heard is the man who only briefly comes between the two friends, but when you've got a friendship as deep as these two, it will take more than just a man to break that up. Keep your Kleenex handy; The conclusion is the ultimate tearjerker in the shade of "Terms of Endearment", "The Color Purple" and "Steel Magnolias".

The reason i wanted to see this movie is because i heard the amazing and powerful song by Bette - Wind Beneath My Wings and the video to it had scenes from the film from it. I bought the film today and when it finished i cried for ages. It is one of the most beautiful films i've ever seen with such a great storyline played by wonderful characters. Bette Middler not only adds the lovable character of C.C, but adds her good old comedy every so often. Im my opinion, this is one of the greatest films ever made, it makes you think about that one best friend that you had when you were little, and wonder, if you still don't talk to them, what life would be like. A+ film, Would recommend a buy or rental of it!