''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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

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

Allan Burns Allan Pennington Burns (May 18, 1935January 30, 2021) was an American screenwriter and television producer. He was best known for co-creating and writing for the television sitcoms ''The Munsters'' and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Early life ...

, and it stars Mary Tyler Moore, Christine Lahti,

Ted Danson Edward Bridge Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe A ...

and Sam Waterston.

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 (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

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 (anatomy), flexibility, Muscle, muscular strength, and ...

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

* Mary Tyler Moore as Holly Davis * Christine Lahti as Sandy Dunlap * Sam Waterston as Harry Crandall *

as Chip Davis * Mark Blum as George Margolin * Salome Jens as Helga * Read Morgan 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 Jane Greer (born Bettejane Greer; September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001) was an American film and television actress best known for her role as ''femme fatale'' Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir ''Out of the Past''. In 2009, ''The Guardian'' ...

as Ruth Chadwick *

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

as Bob Chadwick * Cástulo Guerra as Sportscaster * Lisle Wilson as Newswriter * Chet Collins as Stage Manager * Lewis Arquette 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 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 aggregator, 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 ...

based on 6 reviews.

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

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' 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 by

MGM Home Entertainment MGM Home Entertainment LLC (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, 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 distribution arm of the American med ...

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 (composer) Orion Pictures films MTM Enterprises films 1980s American films English-language drama films English-language buddy films Films with screenplays by Allan Burns