''Just Between Friends'' is a 1986 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

about two women whose friendship is tested by tragedy. The film was written, produced and directed by Allan Burns, and it stars

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...

, Christine Lahti,

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. H ...

and

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has recei ...

Plot

Holly Davis is a wife and mother, happily married to

seismologist Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

Chip Davis. She is not aware that he is having an affair with Sandy Dunlap, a television news reporter who interviewed him after an earthquake. Holly begins teaching

aerobics Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness ( flexibility, muscular strength, and cardio-vascular fitness). ...

part-time at the gym, where she and Sandy meet by coincidence. Sandy and Holly become fast friends and Holly's children like Sandy as well. Sandy is a career-minded reporter trying to become an anchorwoman. Holly invites Sandy to a dinner at her home. It's then that Sandy realizes her married boyfriend is Holly's husband. Sandy tells Chip it's over, but he begs her to wait until they can talk after his upcoming trip. One day at work, a news bulletin reveals the death of Chip in a car crash. Holly is devastated by the news and so is Sandy. Helga, the gym's owner, is ready to sell, so Sandy and Holly invest together. Holly learns the truth while clearing out her husband's office where she finds a photo of Sandy and Chip together. She angrily confronts Sandy who tells her that she was unaware that her new friend was the wife of the man she loved until the dinner party, then she ended it. Holly angrily ends their friendship. Sandy begs for forgiveness, but Holly is devastated, hurt and angry, and refuses to forgive Sandy. Holly swears she will buy Sandy out of her share of the gym as soon as she is able and refuses to resume the close friendship they once shared. Sandy discovers that she is pregnant, and she tells Holly, who is horrified by the news. Over time, Holly realizes that Sandy's child will also be her husband's child so she decides that she should try to forgive Sandy so that she can be a part of the child's life. Harry, Chip's co-worker, helps Sandy with her pregnancy. He also sees Holly, always having had a crush on her. Sandy rejects Holly's attempt at renewing their friendship at first but once the child is born, the film ends as they begin to repair their friendship and Harry kisses Holly.

Cast

as Holly Davis * Christine Lahti as Sandy Dunlap *

as Harry Crandall *

as Chip Davis * Mark Blum as George Margolin *

Salome Jens Salome Jens (born May 8, 1935) is an American dancer and actress of stage, film and television. She is perhaps best known for portraying the Female Changeling on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' in the 1990s. Early years Jens was born in Milwauk ...

as Helga *

Read Morgan Read Lawrence Morgan (January 30, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Sergeant Hapgood Tasker in the American western television series '' The Deputy''. Life and career Mor ...

as Charlie * Beverly Sanders as Judy * Robert Rothwell as Bill * Julie Payne as Karen * Darwyn Carson as Janet * Andra Akers as Andrea * Robert Kino as Mr. Hasegawa * Jane Greer as Ruth Chadwick *

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist an ...

as Bob Chadwick * Cástulo Guerra as Sportscaster * Lisle Wilson as Newswriter * Chet Collins as Stage Manager *

Lewis Arquette Lewis Michael Arquette (December 14, 1935 – February 10, 2001) was an American film actor, writer, and producer. Arquette was known for playing J.D. Pickett on the television series ''The Waltons'', on which he worked from 1978 to 1981. Life ...

as TV Station Guard * Terri Hanauer as Woman in Shower * Helene Winston as Woman in Ice Cream Shop * Gary Riley as Clerk in Ice Cream Shop * Leda Siskind as Coffee Shop Waitress *

Christina Kokubo Christina Kokubo (July 27, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan – June 9, 2007) was an American film and television actress; she was also a drama teacher. Career Kokubo appeared in several feature films, including ''The Yakuza'' (1975), a neo-noir ...

as Nurse * Leslie Ann Rieder as Candy Striper

Reception

''Just Between Friends'' received generally negative reviews from critics. The film holds a 33% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 6 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' was critical of the film saying it "labors over the smallest points of the most inconsequential scenes and then hurries past the big emotional climaxes".

Home media

''Just Between Friends'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

MGM Home Entertainment Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC ( d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. History ...

on January 13, 2004 as a Region 1 DVD.

References

External links

* * * {{MTM Enterprises 1986 films 1986 directorial debut films 1986 drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s female buddy films American drama films Films about friendship Films about infidelity Films shot in Detroit Films scored by Patrick Williams Orion Pictures films MTM Enterprises films 1980s American films