BEACHES - DVD review

Wait, I thought. Did I miss something here? Didn't Buena Vista just release this 1988 film on DVD a few years ago? Right. But this is the "Special Edition." Not that it's all that "special," with only a new director's commentary and a couple of extras. And not that the film seemed to me to deserve a special edition in the first place.

Then I remembered that although the film didn't go over too well with critics, it did exceptionally well at the box office. Every Bette Midler fan in the world must have gone to see it in a theater and later to rent it on tape. As well as every soap-opera lover.

I admit I am not a Bette Midler fan or a soap-opera fan, so, having never seen "Beaches" before, I anticipated it with some small trepidation. On the one hand, my worst fears were met, and not, I hope, as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Normal human emotions aside, I feel I have an obligation to cover every movie sent my way that might be of interest to DVD Town readers, and I tried to remain as objective as possible and give the film a fair shot. On the other hand, I did find myself drawn into the happiness and sorrows of the story's two main characters. It really is a melodramatic tearjerker, with a little something to offer everyone. How much you laugh or cry is weighed against how much of the movie you sit through in stark boredom, and these separate issues will determine how well you value the film.

"Beaches" might well be called "The Neverending Story," its episodes contain so many false closures. The movie tells of a lifelong friendship between two seemingly incompatible women--a tough, brassy Jewish entertainer from the Bronx, played by Midler, and a rich, pampered, well-bred socialite WASP from Atherton (near San Francisco), played by Barbara Hershey. Their ups, their downs, their joys, their sorrows, their loves, their divorces, and their tragedies are the ingredients in this emotional roller-coaster. In other words, the movie contains just about every cliché you can think of. Some of it works; much of it doesn't.

The screenplay is based on the novel by Iris Rainer Dart, and it's directed by a veteran of these sorts of things, Garry Marshall. You may know Marshall from his work with "The Odd Couple" (TV), "Happy Days" (TV), "Laverne & Shirley" (TV), "Mork & Mindy" (TV), "Pretty Woman," "Runaway Bride," "The Princess Diaries," and "Raising Helen." If you see a pattern here, you're sure to grasp the concept of "Beaches," a lot of it stilted, overdone, and contrived.

The main idea is that opposites attract, but that once a true friendship is made, it lasts forever. Or for as long as a movie is rolling. Cecilia "C.C." Bloom (Midler) meets Hillary Whitney on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City when they are both eleven years old, and the bond is made. In a flashback C.C. is played by Mayim Bialik, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the older actress, and Hillary is played by Marcie Leeds. From the start we can see that C.C. is going to be the dominant figure in the relationship. Indeed, poor Hershey along with the rest of the cast will barely be remembered, they're so upstaged by Midler throughout the film. C.C. is a tempestuous, spoiled brat, always wanting to be noticed, always needing to be the center of attention. From the start, she's a struggling singer, a big belter of show tunes, mainly. Hillary, though, is the pampered little rich girl all her life. While C.C. struggles to break into show business, Hillary attends Stanford law school and becomes a high-priced attorney. True to sudsy form, however, Hillary quits her exclusive law practice to move to New York and be with her true-blue friend C.C., the once prosperous lawyer barely supporting herself by working for the ACLU.

C.C. continues to be high-strung and self-centered during almost her whole friendship with Hillary, but Hillary somehow puts up with it. It's only when they both get married that they begin to drift apart. C.C. becomes the toast of Broadway, and Hillary quits the ACLU gig to become a vacuous, married socialite. Then come the inevitable divorces and the hardships and the fights and the deadly diseases, and, and....

"Beaches" is guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings at least a couple of times, and I promise at least a couple of those times will get to you. But it's a matter of knowing that you're being manipulated, and you may resent it. The movie is also guaranteed to get sluggish in the second half and more predictable as it goes along. When the end finally arrives (again and again), it's every bit the downer audiences are hoping for.

In the last analysis, for Midler fans it will probably be the songs that carry the show, and there are a few numbers that I enjoyed, too. They include "Under the Boardwalk," "The Glory of Love," "I've Still Got My Health," "Oh, Industry," "Otto Titsling," "Baby Mine," "You Are My Sunshine," "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," "I Know You By Heart," Midler's hit "Wind Beneath My Wings," and a slow, dirgelike reprise of "The Glory of Love."

Still, a CD album of the songs might be just as entertaining as the movie, and it would cost a lot less.

Video:
The screen size measures about 1.75:1 across my standard-screen Sony HD television, and despite the anamorphic transfer having been done at a good bit rate, everything about the picture quality is average for a current DVD. There's a bit more grain during the opening credits than I would have expected, and it sets the tone for the quality of the rest of the video. The grain comes and goes; the delineation varies from sharp and crisp to soft and muddled; the colors range from deep and rich and natural to muddy and dark; and moiré effects are somewhat distracting in any number of shots. They are minor concerns, though, and Ms. Midler's fans will doubtless not notice.

Audio:
The sound has been remixed for Dolby Digital 5.1, but most of it remains in the front channels. The opening music actually seems rather tinny in the upper registers, but most of the music sounds more realistic as the movie goes on. There is a good front-speaker stereo spread, and a decent bass response, but surround information is almost nil.

Extras:
The bonus materials look at first glance better than they actually are. First, there's an audio commentary with director Garry Marshall. He's very sincere in his remarks, and he pays appropriate tribute to the emotional content of the film. Second, there's a seven-minute bloopers reel originally made in 1988 for the cast and crew at the film's wrap-up party. Third, there's a twelve-minute segment where actress Mayim Bialik reminisces about her part in "Beaches," which is sweet. Fourth, there's a one-minute film clip from the "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs," with Bette Midler. Fifth, there's a four-minute music video of the 1989 Grammy Award-winning Song of the Year and Record of the Year, "Wind Beneath My Wings," performed by Bette Midler, which I found rather sappy. Sixth, there is about six minutes' worth of Barbara Hershey screen tests. And, finally, there are a measly ten scene selections; a blurry, fullscreen theatrical trailer; English and French spoken languages; and French subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired. I can't say I was interested in any of it.

Parting Shots:
I enjoyed the first forty-five minutes of "Beaches." Beyond that, I kept looking at my watch wondering when it was ever going to end. And then it ends. And ends. And ends again. The picture is like Dracula; it never dies. But if you consider just the songs and Ms. Midler's presence, which are outgoing or sentimental or both, the picture can provide some pleasure. The excessive melodrama I could have done without.