Beaches (1988)

  Christy made me watch this.  That should probably go without saying.  What might surprise you is that I didn't hate it.  It didn't make me all weepy and emotional but I didn't want to gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon either.

Meeting by chance on the Atlantic City boardwalk, Hillary (Marcie Leeds) and CC (Mayim Bialik) decide to become pen pals at age 11.  Hillary is the daughter of a rich San Francisco lawyer and CC is a born entertainer trying to become a star.  They don't meet again for ten years, when Hillary (Barbara Hershey) finally escapes her father's control and becomes a lawyer for the ACLU.  She moves to NYC and lives with CC (Bette Midler), still struggling to be a legitimate singer/actress.  Their friendship goes through some lows over the next ten years as CC's career finally takes off and Hillary becomes stuck in an unfulfilling marriage but when they really need each other, they find their way back.

This is definitely a movie about Girl World, so gentlemen may want to bow out.  There is nothing here for you, unless you want a quick primer on the subtle insults women reserve for their best friends.  There were points during the second half of the movie where I winced at one line or another, because you don't say things like that unless you want a fight, and if it's someone who has known you since you were a child, you will bleed for it.  No one knows how to twist the knife like your best friend.

The timeline is a little hard to pin down because all the clothes are so 80's but I think it's supposed to cover at least thirty years.  Barbara Hershey's face looks weird to me, like she still needed to grow into it, and this is long before the days of constant tooth-whitening so everyone's smile looks a little too natural.  Trust me, you'll see.  I'll never own it but I can see why people like it.