Review of Beaches

...and I think the movie is a treat. Yes, it has schmaltzy moments and it has catty moments, but what melodrama doesn't? It's been a tried-and-true film genre since the 1940's, and shows no signs of fading away yet. But I get sick and tired of society turning a cynical eye on sentiment or love or sensitivity in a film, and dismissing it as a chick flick. (40 years ago, the same type of film was dismissed as a 'woman's picture.' Obviously we haven't come a long way, baby.) What's the point of this tirade? The centerpiece of 'Beaches' is a friendship. Between two women. But it could be between a man and a woman; it could even be between two men, though they probably wouldn't have fought over the same things. But we all possess the same emotions: insecurity, ambition, bitterness when things are bad, joy when things are great. This isn't just reserved for the fairer sex. Bette Midler essays what is close to an autobiographical role: a singer bordering on the multiple-talent bandwagon. We already know Bette can be funny, but when she gets to emote she often sounds raw and untrained- something which makes her acting style seem all the more natural. Barbara Hershey compliments her perfectly as a beautiful socialite-turned-civil-rights-attorney whose face appears to be her fortune, but is smart, humble, and not at all self-absorbed. The film soars highest when the two friends are brought together by life circumstances: celebrating holidays in a cold apartment; playing cards while doing the laundry; conversations thru letters; a beautiful pregnancy montage framed around the song "Baby Mine;" a tragedy in the film's 11th hour featuring Midler cooing a very melancholy "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today." Guaranteed tears in your eyes. And this is all BEFORE the musical finale of "Wind Beneath My Wings."