When a movie is remade, there are bound to be differences between it and the original. In the case of “Beaches,” a Lifetime remake of the 1988 movie with the same name, one will be disappointed if they are expecting to watch the same film from 1988, just with different actors.

“Beaches” is about two girls, C.C. and Hillary, who first meet at a beach when they are both eleven years old. They immediately become best friends; however, due to geographical distance, they have to resort to writing letters to one another in order to keep the relationship going.

C.C. (Idina Menzel) is an aspiring performer, whose charm makes up for her constant need for those around her to compliment her abilities. On the other hand, Hillary (Nia Long), who grows up in an aristocratic household, and subsequently struggles with her desire to do something more with her life than to be a buttoned-up lawyer. The mismatched pair represent friendship over time, in all its triumph and all its failures.

As mentioned before, this remake holds several obvious differences as compared to the original; however, evident changes are not necessarily a negative thing. While there are some differences in the 2017 version, there are no plot holes or inconsistencies.

In fact, most of the changes are made simply because of the time difference between the two movies. As one can imagine, the technology found today differs a little bit from what was available in the 1980s—instead of Hillary and C.C. continually communicating through letters, they gradually resort to phone calls and texts.

Although there are several more extreme changes that are definitely missed (such as some of the great comedic one liners from the original movie), when viewed separately from the original, Lifetime’s “Beaches” generally stands its ground.

Idina Menzel was a great casting choice for C.C., especially when one considers that Bette Midler originated the role in the 1988 version. C.C. performs several songs throughout the entirety of the movie, including the emotional classic, “Wind Beneath My Wings” (which Menzel revamped for the remake). Nia Long does a great job portraying Hillary’s personal journey over the years, both as C.C.’s friend and as someone who is simply trying to find her purpose in life.

While the cast does do a great job, “Beaches” is definitely not a movie structured for television. The Lifetime version seemed a bit rushed due to the simple fact that it is shorter than the original. The 1988 version is two hours and three minutes; while the 2017 version’s run time is also two hours, it is broken up with commercial breaks.

Not only is the remake shorter, but with the constant commercial breaks, it’s difficult to fully invest in the emotions that naturally come with the film. These breaks make the plot choppy, and the audience is required to switch back and forth between the emotional moments found throughout the film to “Dance Moms” promos, making it difficult for the character development to run as smoothly as it needs to.

With all that said, “Beaches” (no matter the version) perfectly conveys the realistic journey of those once-in-a-lifetime friendships—they are not always pretty, they are definitely not perfect, but no matter how hard it gets, the friendship will always be there and can always be counted on. As Hillary puts it, “She knows every little thing about me. She knows the good stuff and the bad stuff…she knows all my stories.”

While the remake focuses on the deep friendship between the pair, the disconnections that result from structuring it as a television movie are hard to get past. The original is a must-see, while the remake of this film simply does the job.