FILM PICKS

TODAY

Beaches (1988) (C5, 3.25pm)

If you’re a fan of Bette Midler, or just fancy a good cry, this film will fit the bill. Meeting in Atlantic City as 11-yearolds, brash singer CC (Midler, played as a kid by the perfectly cast Mayim Bialik) and the more strait-laced rich girl Hilary (Barbara Hershey) vow to be friends forever. They keep in touch over the years through letters, supporting each other during highs and lows in their careers and love lives. They have their ups and downs, as the men in their lives get in the way of the friendship. But it’s when Hilary becomes ill that their friendship is really cemented.

MONDAY

Jerry Maguire (1996) (Film4, 9pm)

Cameron Crowe’s heart-warming romantic comedy stars Tom Cruise as the eponymous sports agent who becomes disillusioned with his job and suggests that his firm should take on fewer clients but offer them a better service. This radical idea gets him fired and forces him to set up his own business – but the only people standing by him are a lovelorn accountant (Renee Zellweger) and a footballer (Cuba Gooding Jr). The movie won an Oscar for the charismatic Gooding Jr, turned Zellweger into a star, and handed a scene-stealing role to child actor Jonathan Lipnicki, but Cruise holds it all together with one of his best performances.

WEDNESDAY

High Noon (1952) (Film4, 5.20pm)

It’s former town marshal Will Kane’s (Gary Cooper) wedding day, and he’s just discovered that a killer he tried to bring to justice has been freed on a technicality – and is heading back to town on the midday train, intent on revenge. Will has to decide whether to leave as planned to start a new life with his Quaker bride (Grace Kelly) or stay and face his adversary. But he gets little support from the townsfolk, who make it clear that he will have to face his fate alone. High Noon was seized on at the time as an allegory for McCarthyism, but even without that added layer of meaning, it’s still one of the greatest Westerns ever made.

FRIDAY

Rocky (1976) (STV, 11.05pm)

Forget the overblown sequels – the original, Oscar-winning Rocky is a surprisingly sweet, low-key underdog story. Sylvester Stallone wrote himself his best role as Rocky Balboa, a struggling boxer from working-class Philadelphia who combines fighting with a day job running errands for a loan shark. His luck changes when reigning heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) decides to celebrate America’s bicentennial by giving an unknown a shot at the title.