Beaches (2017)

When they’re on, they’re really on, spending every waking moment cheerfully chattering away about anything and everything. That sort of happy dynamic is relatively easy to replicate, but when things get difficult, the chemistry between the actresses isn’t crackling enough to really sell the passion behind the conflict.

While the friendship between Midler and Hershey was really given time to grow onscreen, this bonding feels more rushed. There are moments worth tuning in for, though. ... Menzel still crushes the musical aspect of CC. And Long manages to imbue cold Hillary with a nice warmth.

Beaches hits some sweet spots without being overly taxing on the male gene.

When C.C. and Whitney predictably fight over the same man, your eyes may roll. And that’s a good reflex. While you may not mind revisiting “Beaches,” you may not feel the same emotions washing over you--because you already know the story.

The remake's biggest flaw is that it isn't funny. There are tears, but there isn't much in the way of laughs. Lifetime's Beaches isn't bad. For a TV movie, it's pretty good. And if you haven't seen the original, you'll like the remake more. But the younger generation is smart enough to know that the original is better.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Lifetime's mostly dutiful remake of the 1988 hit is something of a slog through the first two-thirds, periodically lifted by Idina Menzel's golden pipes.

The new Beaches, directed by Allison Anders, is even less substantial as it goes through the motions of a tearjerker. It’s like a CliffsNotes of a CliffsNotes of a melodrama.

The Lifetime “Beaches” is a reduction of the original--smaller emotions, smaller performances, fewer songs, shorter running time (about 87 minutes versus 123)--and while that could have been an improvement, it’s not. The things that made the original worth sitting through, whether you were love-watching or hate-watching, are mostly gone.