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Trust, communication, and care are three key ingredients when two individuals form a friendship, as these components maintain and foster mutual respect and understanding. Trust entails two individual’s ability to share secretive and personal information without limitations, as there is no fear of harm and judgment. Listening is the vital portion of communication while the other shares his or her personal information. Without this kind of communication it becomes hard to share information, and difficult to form friendship. To provide the best possible attention through good communication and trust one displays that one cares. If two individuals care it becomes possible for the most unlikely individuals to form an improbable friendship, as C C Bloom (Bette Midler) and Hillary Whitney (Barbara Hershey) do in Beaches. ***

C C rehearses for a performance at the Hollywood Bowl when she receives a message, an unknown message to the audience, but the audience can decipher the social codes that are important as C C drops everything including the evening performance in order to get to San Francisco. This opening directs the audience into the direction of something immediately threatening. The question is what can be so important to C C, as she leaves everything behind and rents a car to drive in a rainstorm to San Francisco. Two lengthy flashbacks deliver the reason for why it is important to C C to drive through the storm. ***

The first flashback begins decades earlier in Atlantic City where Hillary has lost herself along the boardwalk, as C C notices her while hiding in order to smoke a cigarette. Helpfully, C C emerges from underneath the boardwalk, as she tells Hillary that she knows the hotel where she is staying. This moment brings the two together, as C C's mother appears to tell her that she has received an opportunity to audition for a Hollywood film director. C C asks, or more like tells, Hillary to tag along, as she get to witness C C's star quality, which bedazzles her. This seems to be the moment when Hillary discovers that C C has confidence to do what she pleases—something that is foreign to her. However, it is the beginning for a long friendship that seems to be held together through long letters of reciprocal sharing of thoughts and feelings, as the two girls mature into women. ***

The story makes several leaps, as it skips years at a time. These leaps cause a hurried effect in the story, which do not seem to emphasize the emotional character development. This hurts the cinematic experience, as story does not offer a genuine feeling for the characters. Both women seem hollow and empty in their emotional portrayal, which is supposed to be the strength of the film. To further the lack of emotional quality, the film presents a quantity of cinematic clichés that are supposed to provide emotional tension and affection. Nonetheless, there are moments in the film where the story grabs the audience with heartbreaking and joyous tears. ***

The friendships between C C, a spoiled and ditsy self-centered diva with a Jewish heritage from the Bronx, and Hillary, a well-mannered aristocratic lawyer with a well-established background from outside San Francisco are an unlikely alliance. These two women beat the odds and remain friends far into adulthood where their friendship gets tested, as their trust and communication are broken leaving them careless of each other. Nonetheless, it is expected that these two women will mend their friendship, as they go through marriages and divorces and through years of joy and sadness. ***

Beaches offers a melodramatic tale that temporarily displays moments of great drama, but often regresses into the genre of television soap operas. At times the film seems like the lines were written and never spoken, and at times the characters seem awkward with the lines. This furthers the difficulty in the film. In addition, the film plays with the audience’s empathetic side, as it purposely manipulates the audience’s affection in a crude manner. This crudeness leaves the audience with moments of tears, yet it also leaves a feeling of having been cheated of genuine emotion. Despite the poor depiction of the story it offers some valuable lessons worth pondering, which at the end leaves the audience with an ok cinematic experience. *** ---

The image is rather grainy on this new special edition, which is supposed to be a step up from the previous DVD. Besides the graininess there are visuals that might seem a little too bright, but this seems to be an effect from the soft lighting in the film. The anamorphic widescreen presents an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which does not display any noticeable digital distortions. Ultimately, Beaches’ image is nothing eye boggling, as it merely reaches average quality. ***

The sound is enhanced to a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, which uses very little of the rear speakers, if any, as most of the sound still comes from the front speakers. Genuine sound in regards to dialogues enters the viewing room through the front speakers while music seems to be having a limited use of the speakers. ***

The special edition has more extras than the barebones DVD that was previously released, but it is not exceptional compared to other special editions of other films. The extras begin with a 7-minnute blooper sequence made for the wrap-up party of the film, which is ok. Mayim Bialik presents the second segment in the special features section in which she tells about her memories of making the film. The third section is AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Song Clips with Bette Midler, which has a one minute presentation of Bette Midler and her songs. This is wrapped up with the music video, Wind Beneath My Wings, which will lead the audience to the second page of extras by clicking on “More”. On the second page the viewer can find a Barbara Hershey’s screen test, which displays her screen test and the talent she brought to the film, as she performs against Bette Midler. This is summed up with a theatrical trailer, which enlightens the audience of Beaches’ theme and plot line. ***