Overview
A heartfelt journey through friendship, love, and loss unfolds against the backdrop of life's unpredictable tides.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- sentimental
- wistful
- theatrical
- nostalgic movie night
- girls night
What critics said
Critics broadly viewed the film as a derivative and mechanically manipulative tearjerker whose emotional climaxes and lifelong friendship lacked sufficient authenticity.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film foregrounds romantic conflict, illness, loss, and highly orchestrated emotional set pieces.
CC and Hillary's relationship begins in childhood and structures the story through multiple life stages.
Performing aspirant CC and wealthy, reserved lawyer Hillary come from sharply different social circumstances.
Hillary's legal career and later family responsibilities are presented as competing models of fulfillment.
Films like Beaches, and why
Old Acquaintance
lifelong female friendship, class differences, romantic entanglements, and overtly sentimental melodrama
Terms of Endearment
emotionally heightened female friendship drama centered on love, loss, and enduring companionship
The Way We Were
decades-spanning friendship, romance, career choices, and bittersweet emotional catharsis
Fried Green Tomatoes
female-centered tearjerker combining friendship, family pressures, romance, and popular music
Movie Details
- Director
- Garry Marshall
- Release Date
- 1988-12-21
- Runtime
- 123 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (287)
Cast
- Bette Midler
- Barbara Hershey
- John Heard
- Spalding Gray
- Lainie Kazan
- James Read
- Grace Johnston
- Mayim Bialik
- Marcie Leeds
- Carol Williard
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Beaches about?
- Two women from opposite sides of the tracks sustain a passionate friendship through ambition, romance, motherhood, and devastating loss.
- What is Beaches like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Beaches as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Beaches violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Beaches as mild.
- What did critics think of Beaches?
- Critics broadly viewed the film as a derivative and mechanically manipulative tearjerker whose emotional climaxes and lifelong friendship lacked sufficient authenticity.
- Which films are like Beaches?
- Films with a similar feel include Old Acquaintance, Terms of Endearment, The Way We Were, and Fried Green Tomatoes.
- How long is Beaches?
- Beaches runs 123 minutes.
- Where can I watch Beaches?
- In United States, Beaches streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
