Beaches (2017 TV Movie) User Reviews

SORRY, BEACHES 1988 IT WASN'T

[plutus1947 · 5/10 · 20 April 2019]

While I love Idina Menzel and Nia Long I am extremely sorry to say this TV Movie was not a patch on the 1988 cinema version.

Most of the songs were mediocre, although performed wonderfully, except of course the last two numbers which WERE from the original 1988 version which were sung with in an exemplary fashion.

In virtually every case a remake is never better or as good as the original and sadly this is the case in this remake.

It was an impossible task really to emulate Bette Midler (CC Bloom) and Barbara Hershey (Hilary Whitney Essex) no matter who reprised the role.

I was however disappointed to see that some reviewers could only find it in their hearts to score this movie a one because it was worth more than that. I have seen much worse movies, including remakes.

Way too over paced

[pocodfe · 4/10 · 24 March 2017]

When a movie is remade, you have to expect everyone to make a comparison. In that regard, this new version is just flat. It doesn't allow the viewer the chance to gain any depth or get drawn into the movie. You can just feel the rush of this movie trying to cram it all in to fit the allotted commercial insertions. Such a shame. The opening scenes with the two young girls are poorly acted. I almost stopped watching, but the adults pulled it off. Nia Long gives an exceptional performance. But again, this entire movie is so rushed, the great performance is overshadowed by the hasty flow. The singing by Menzel is actually good, which is another positive. But overall, the original is a major standout compared to this. TV movie remake failed in this case, unfortunately. You can't tell this incredible story in less than 90 minutes. And trying to do so is why it fell way short.

Some movies should not be remade

[mharah · 5/10 · 15 July 2017]

Bette Midler is a tough act to follow. One must almost go for a completely different interpretation. That wasn't done here. Idina Menzel has the chops as a singer, of course, but beyond that she's no Bette Midler. If she was trying for a different interpretation, it didn't work. In fact, it couldn't have worked. Over 30 minutes were chopped out of the running time as compared to the original. It is extra time that was desperately needed. The character development, the intricacies of the interactions, many of the nuances, all suffered just to get plot points in and leave room for commercials. Nia Long has turned in some brilliant portrayals in other projects. Here, she was mostly underused. Hillary has the more subtle character; it has to be played to CC without being secondary. Nia wasn't given enough screen time to do this. Updating the story didn't help either. There was a unique cachet about pre-gambling Atlantic City in its heyday, along with Broadway in its prime. The present day setting for this version was too bland. (Nuns in sitcoms just don't cut it. Respectable female New York lawyers are old school. The boardwalk in AC has very little charm any more.) There really wasn't any useful reason to update the story anyway, other than to point up that Beaches 2017 isn't Beaches 1988. It certainly isn't.

Painful

[jaiami-10-791064 · 1/10 · 10 December 2017]

It was physically painful to watch such a pathetic attempt to update a classic movie. The acting, the music, the story line were all complete failures. I was embarrassed for the two leads throughout. The update focused on all the minor aspects of the original and missed the essence. This is a remake that should never have been made. I need to watch the original to get this horror out of my mind.

If there was ever a reason not to redo something, this is it.

[brummylee · 2/10 · 15 February 2017]

I've seen quite a few remakes over the years but nothing like this. It takes a film that could reduce Starlin to tears and turns it into a tacky and badly cast pile of not worthy of bearing it's name.

I'ts terrible and makes you wonder why the people responsible for the original film would allow this, think cheap American daytime soap and you pretty much get how this was remade.

It is awful.

Not Bad For A Remake Of A Classic Film

[gnowaczek · 6/10 · 8 March 2017]

First time I saw Beaches was during the premiere on Lifetime in January 2017 , one of the reasons why remakes are made is to introduce a new generation to a popular film with a new spin on it.

Idina Menzel's rendition of Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings was amazing and sung so beautifully, the film retells the story of a friendship between two women from different backgrounds that spans from childhood to adulthood.

Nia Long's portrayal of Hillary Whitney was good, like Barbra Hershey in the original film her character goes through many changes beginning with befriending CC Bloom who wants to be a star to becoming a lawyer, wife and then eventually a single mother is handled well.

Fellow cast members Gabriella Pizzolo, Grace Capeless, Antonio Cupo, Colin Lawrence, Sanai Victoria , Jodi Capeless and Donny Lucas rounded out the cast perfectly.

I give this film a 6.3/ 10

Couldn't Make It To The End

[jlh-30025 · 1/10 · 30 August 2017]

I'll be honest, I couldn't get through the whole movie. I know you shouldn't compare it to the original but the original was just so good and the remake just couldn't hold a candle to it. The origin story of how the girls met was rushed and so poorly acted. It was just bad writing how the girls began a life long friendship after less than an hour or so of conversation. The original really did a much better job of building a bond between the two girls. Another reviewer said exactly what I thought, I almost turned it off there, but I LOVE Idina Menzel and wanted to see what she brought to the film. I wasn't sure to begin with how this film would work. The brilliant Bette Midler was made for this movie and she made the character of CC who she was meant to be. She was loud and proud, slightly obnoxious, and didn't have the girl next door look. That's CC and Bette portrayed that character in the most perfect way, and as much as I adore Idina, that's just not her and it's not a role for her. How in any way could anyone believe that CC wasn't getting roles because she "wasn't as cute as the other girls" when she's played by the stunning Menzel? How could we believe that CC couldn't hold a candle to Hillary in the looks department when she has both the looks and personality. This was a huge hole in the story. You can't make CC the unattractive friend who is so worse off than Hilary when you give the part to someone who is as gorgeous and talented as Idina. It's like casting the head cheerleader as a part meant for a chubby girl. I didn't know how the filmmakers were going to make it work, and it was simple...they didn't make it work. Like I said I turned it off fairly early on. When something is bad there's no point wasting time sitting through it.

Beaches Redux...My Take 💙

[cheryl329 · 9/10 · 22 March 2021]

I actually enjoyed this movie...Never saw the first one so maybe I just don't have anything to compare it to...however, "Wind Beneath My Wings" has always been a favorite so hearing it in this remake still was able to bring me to tears 😢

The Bette Midler version is better then the remake!

[IMKidHunni · 6/10 · 22 May 2022]

The remake is ok but I think the bette midler version is a lot better then the remake.

I remember the actress who played cc bloom in this remake she played in the Disney movie of enchanted.

Lead actors were reversed

[moviewatcher2010 · 1/10 · 3 February 2021]

As another reviewer indicated, it appears that the lead actors were reversed. In the beginning, you see Nia Long with the big sunglasses and the gorgeous styled hair which I was sure was CC, and Idina Menzel resembling Barbara Hershey in the original as Hillary. Turned out to be the opposite which got more confusing seeing Nia Long portray the more demure Hillary. She would have been better cast as the brassy CC, and Idina Menzel as Hillary.

I love this!

[hxneychild · 10/10 · 30 October 2020]

I am 27 biracial and have always loved these 80s movies, but there was never any representation. Like watching Crime of the Heart and there's just a random black lady at the beginning yelling and being told what to do, but you never see her again in the movie. I love that movie though and would love for it to be redone like this with one of the sisters being biracial. It makes it more relatable to more people and means a lot to see yourself in the story of that makes sense. Steal Magnolias being redone with Queen Latifah was another one that had me so excited! I appreciate these remakes! I hope they keep doing this rather than remake the movies with an all Caucasian cast. 10 stars!!

A bit confused but has potential

[graham-harvey · 6/10 · 6 January 2021]

Time moves forward & to have this story about a white woman & black woman was a nice thing to see. But within that lay some confusion. I know some African Americans are wealthy & can be elitist, but generally are not. That's history! So to typecast this character in this role just seemed weird. The original film had working class noo yorker vs preppy wasp woman who came from a family of new england privilege, That was true & authentic. Rather than stick to the original Beaches story, a better take would have been to contrast a white woman vs black. there could be wealth difference but cultural difference could be enough. A good start though... As regards a lot of other references, they seemed a bit fake as 2017 is a very different world to when the first Beaches appeared. Back then flights were expensive & communication could lapse. But these days we are all a tap away from communication, so the lapses on that did not stack up as making sense. And the idea to know you are dying & not talk with your daughter about plans may have been the world of yesteryear but not today!

Another remake fail

[michaelrthomson · 1/10 · 10 May 2017]

I heard somewhere that this was being remade, and I heard Idina would be in a starring role, so I thought, hmm OK, she can sort of act, and she can certainly sing.... she's no Bette Midler obviously but perhaps it might be better than the Ghostbusters disaster....

So some weeks later I find this online, and think ah OK, lets see how this worked out.

I firstly noticed it appeared to be about half an hour less than the original - kind of strange.

What it appears happened is that all the talent, skill and entertainment were taken out, who knew you could measure these things in time.

From the outset it's just bad, the opening cliché scene, with the same dialogue but delivered with all the care of an out of control rally driver, well it just made me cringe.

And from there is appears to be going downhill rapidly, I'm about 20 mins in now, and I can safely say other than Idina singing, this BAD REMAKE has no redeeming qualities at all.

I would say this is another example of an attempt to 'bring it to a new audience' when the original if it got a 20th or 30th anniversary release update thing would have been far more successful, and far better than this complete load of nonsense.

I can find no redemption in this film other than Idina singing, and I literally mean the singing, her acting is just as bad as it was in Glee *sigh*

I don't imagine it is likely I will see this through to the end without being compelled to scratch my eyes out and ram cotton buds in my ears......

Please Hollywodd, stop raping the classics for the sake of a quick bit of gratification - this is about as successful as premature ejaculation.

Idina Menzel terrible acting

[buttercup_ts · 3/10 · 21 April 2020]

I have seen the movie in the past and loved it. Loved how the writers made the movie to where it is not exactly the same as the old one. Idina Menzel was absolutely terrible at acting. The Singing was good. Acting was not natural for her. Nia Long was great as her character.

Horrible remake

[jennysnovak · 1/10 · 31 May 2020]

This should never have been remade! IdIna can sing but she can't act, unless it's Disney. Perhaps trying to remake Bette Midler movies is not a good idea.

Not a patch on the original!

[ljsheppard · 3/10 · 6 January 2021]

Wow! So first of all no one in this movie can actually act, so that's a problem. Second of all, the actress who plays CC when she sings sounds like she's just inhaled helium. Ugh! If I hadn't of watched the original 50 times I might have thought this was an ok movie, but nah it's pretty terrible. Don't waste your time!

PERSPECTIVE IS KEY

[QueerVamp20 · 9/10 · 12 January 2020]

I am one of the smaller percentage of people who views things as though the glass is half full. Being a fan of many remakes, but more so being a fan of Idina Menzel could make this review somewhat bias. However, I will review this movie remake as though my love for Idina Menzel wasn't reason enough to love it.

I love several of Bette Midler's movies. My favorite is "For The Boys" costarring James Caan. Bette has an interesting way of singing that comes off as though she developed the ability to sing through training alone. Sometimes Bette's singing bothers me. Loving her remake of Gypsy but not truly feeling the classical atmosphere as the original could easily make the average critic not enjoy it.

But we are here to review her movie remake "Beaches" with Idina Menzel and Nia Long. The following are the reasons why I love this remake.

1) New music. You have to be able to stomach Idina Menzel's voice to love the music in this movie. Wicked the musical and both Frozen movies are only 2 places you will hear her amazing unique way of delivering a song.

2) Diversity, I love how her best friend in this movie was a different color than in the original, Being a white male who has connected and related to mostly African american women gives me a personal connection to the changes in this remake.

3) A shorter movie. Sometimes I think people make movies way too long, and sometimes not long enough. The original movie was way too long, often taking extended moments of nothing important going on making my attention span shorter than usual. I felt like the pace in this version was way better.

I am not going to talk about what I didn't like about it because, again I am looking at the glass as half full. Lower budget, smaller names, being a lifetime movie is what hurt the execution and costuming, set, etc that made this movie look less than the original. Plus there isn't much of a backing score when CiCi is not singing. Anyway, I loved it, and will always love it because I am the one who generally loves the remakes everyone else hates - I love Idina Menzel, love Nia Long (Single Mom's Club) - and I find Idina Menzel to have far greater talent in singing than Bette Midler - Love the original - but love this one more

Adele Gazeem

[edblackham · 1/10 · 7 June 2020]

Wow, I caught about 10 minutes of it, and it was painful. The only positive I can say is, Idina is a very good singer.

Loved the Original storyline but love love the remake.

[JLaurinA · 8/10 · 26 June 2020]

By the end just like the original one I was 😭 crying my eyeballs out! Over all I enjoyed it at 46 just as I did at 15.

I'm not a movie nit picker if it can hold my attention. There were rushed areas but overall Nia did a heart touching great job. I personally think it got better and better the longer you watch!

I'd watch it again for sure multiple times!

OBX 1986 Becky I will always think of you as my CC!

Absolutely pitiful

[kerry_kirby09 · 1/10 · 6 January 2021]

Each and everyone one of the people in this remake should hang their heads in shame what an absolute horrendous remark of a beautiful story/movie. Both main actresses performances were pitiful it was as if they had the script in their hands and they were reading off it. Absolutely no personality and no emotion at all it was embarrassing to watch them try to act. Horrendous

Total Garbage

[waldoborolibby · 1/10 · 22 June 2020]

If this one doesn't make you puke, nothing will. There's not a grain of talent in the entire cast.

Paaaaiiiiinful

[dfreyberg_rocks · 1/10 · 12 August 2023]

9/10 times, remakes of iconic, heart-warming masterpieces should never be made - let alone attempted. This movie is no exemption to that.

Aside from the boring, sleep-inducing acting and lack of narrative, this "remake" fails to capture the very essence that was Beaches. Without Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey dominating the screen with their chemistry that can be felt in even the youngest of hearts who weren't even alive in the 80s, this failed attempt to rekindle a classic should be a hard pass for anyone with any ounce of respect for the original.

Please stop trying to recapture the classics. It never works.

Save your eyes the pain.

[meganputt873 · 1/10 · 12 February 2021]

I didn't expect a lot. But this blew my low expectations to a new painful depth. This movie has no chemistry and is just lacking any connection to the audience and to each other. It was rushed, poorly acted and an embarrassment to the incredible work that went into the original. Bus Long was the only good thing about this movie and even she lacked the usual spark she puts into her performances. If you need something to do in a Saturday afternoon.. watch paint dry. A much more riveting activity.

Life long friendship

[hsmith-84652 · 10/10 · 29 May 2017]

I loved this. Yes it was short, and no it was not as good as the original. But what movie is ever as good as the original? Of all the remakes of originals I have ever seen this one is my favorite so far. Menzel is fabulous, no shocker there. For a remake of an original, loved it.

Wow... this was horrible.

[myfaithlasts · 1/10 · 7 October 2022]

I will never understand why people want to remake classic movies and then just ruin them. It was bad enough that the two main actresses in the movie could not act, but the bad acting ruined any possibility of a good story. Do not recommend. The original movie back in the 1980's was so good and holds so much nostalgia. The young girls were such amazing young actresses and brought so much life to the film. When this movie started The acting was so bad that it was painful, bit I kept trying to give it another chance. I was hoping the movie would redeem itself, but it just got worse as time went on. Please stop trying to remake classics. It doesnt work.