Beaches (2017 film)

{{Infobox television

| image = Beaches (2017 film).png

| image_alt =

| caption = DVD cover

| genre = Drama

| based_on = {{based on|Beaches|Iris Rainer Dart}}

| screenplay = {{Plainlist|

}}

| director = Allison Anders

| starring = {{Plainlist|

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| composer = Lesley Barber

| country = United States

| language = English

| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|

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| producer = {{Plainlist|

Harvey Kahn

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| editor = Mark Bourgeois

| cinematography = John Brawley

| runtime = 87 minutes

| company = A&E Studios

| network = Lifetime

| released = {{Start date|2017|01|21}}

| related = Beaches (1988)

}}

Beaches is a 2017 American drama television film directed by Allison Anders from a screenplay by Nikole Beckwith and Kate Lanier. It is a remake of the 1988 film of the same name. The film stars Idina Menzel and Nia Long. The film premiered on Lifetime on January 21, 2017.{{cite web |last=Calvario |first=Liz |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2016/11/beaches-remake-trailer-idina-menzel-sings-wind-beneath-my-wings-lifetime-1201750961/ |title=Beaches Remake Trailer: Idina Menzel Sings Wind Beneath My Wings |website=IndieWire |date=November 29, 2016 |access-date=January 23, 2017 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202021123/http://www.indiewire.com/2016/11/beaches-remake-trailer-idina-menzel-sings-wind-beneath-my-wings-lifetime-1201750961/ |url-status=live }}

Premise

Two friends, one being a professional and the other a performer, maintain a long-lasting friendship through childhood, love, and tragedy.

Cast

Idina Menzel as CC Bloom
Gabriella Pizzolo as young CC Bloom
Nia Long as Hillary Whitney
Grace Capeless as young Hillary Whitney
Antonio Cupo as John Pierce
Colin Lawrence as Bryan
Sanai Victoria as Tory Whitney
Barbara Beall as costume designer
Daniel Letto as Sorcerer actor
Rebecca Husain as Pretty Sinners director
Graeme Duffy as Sorcerer composer
Kate Isaac as assistant district attorney
Jane Hancock as Ashley

Production

On July 28, 2016, the film was announced, with Idina Menzel joining the cast.{{cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |url=https://deadline.com/2016/07/beaches-remake-idina-menzel-star-lifetime-1201793989/ |title='Beaches' Movie Remake Starring Idina Menzel Greenlighted By Lifetime |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=July 28, 2016 |access-date=January 23, 2017 |archive-date=December 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202130557/http://deadline.com/2016/07/beaches-remake-idina-menzel-star-lifetime-1201793989/ |url-status=live }} On August 16, 2016, it was announced Nia Long had joined the cast.{{cite web|last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |url=https://deadline.com/2016/08/beaches-nia-long-star-hillary-lifetime-remake-1201804087/ |title='Beaches': Nia Long To Play Hillary In Lifetime Remake |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=August 16, 2016 |access-date=January 23, 2017}} Principal photography began on August 15, 2016.

Reception

Beaches received negative reviews, with most critics assessing it as inferior to the 1988 original. Mike Hale of The New York Times pointed out the absurdity of remaking Beaches, itself a 1950s throwback which failed to update its themes to the decades in which the film is set. He added, "Stuffing the story into 70 percent of the time makes C. C. and Hillary's cycle of fights and reconciliations feel more arbitrary than ever, especially in the absence of [Bette] Midler, whose vivid portrayal of C. C. provided motivations that weren't in the script."{{cite news |last=Hale |first=Mike |title=Review: They've, Sob, Remade 'Beaches' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/arts/television/review-theyve-sob-remade-beaches.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftelevision&action=click&contentCollection=television®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sec |access-date=December 31, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=January 20, 2017}} Blake Meredith of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Any time a beloved movie or TV series gets a remake, knee-jerk purists howl about it 'ruining' the original. 'Beaches' [...] is the rare case of a remake that might actually do just that." She explained that by reducing the length to 90 minutes while otherwise staying faithful to the original film only serves to make the silliness of the original Beaches stand out more clearly, particularly noting how the shorter length forces most of the plot to be delivered through exposition.{{cite news |last=Blake |first=Meredith |title='Beaches' Is a Misguided Remake of the Weepy Classic on Lifetime |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-beaches-remake-review-20170121-story.html |access-date=December 31, 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 20, 2017 |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430134938/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-beaches-remake-review-20170121-story.html |url-status=live }} CNN Entertainment described it as tedious and dated, but said Menzel's singing is a highlight and makes the film arguably worth watching by Lifetime standards.{{cite web |last=Lowry |first=Brian |title='Beaches' Remake Doesn't Achieve Liftoff on Lifetime |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/entertainment/beaches-review/index.html |website=CNN Entertainment |access-date=December 31, 2019 |date=January 20, 2017}} The Boston Globe said it echoed the chief shortcoming of the original film, the lack of substantial basis for C.C. and Hillary's friendship. Reviewer Matthew Gilbert stated, "It's not so much that Menzel and Long are bad – they're consistently OK, if never better than that — but the story is too hollow for them to dig in. Singer-actress CC and lawyer Hillary meet as kids, become pen pals, room together, fall in love with the same guy ... and go through their expected friendship arc. None of it manages to work up much lather."{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Matthew |title=Cry Me an Ocean: The remake of 'Beaches' Overflows with Melodrama |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2017/01/18/cry-ocean-the-remake-beaches-overflows-with-melodrama/uEY5k6hAjYoTPaNOm6CjSO/story.html |access-date=December 31, 2019 |work=Boston Globe |date=January 18, 2017 |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430134905/https://www2.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2017/01/18/cry-ocean-the-remake-beaches-overflows-with-melodrama/uEY5k6hAjYoTPaNOm6CjSO/story.html |url-status=live }}