I love Diane Keaton. And I feel a bit badly that she didn't have the career she deserved in many ways. She is such a skilled comedienne. But she is also a terrific dramatic actress, SHOOT THE MOON is one of my favorite examples and I have referred to that film on here already. She is great too in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (also used that one) and REDS. She has been stuck in a lot of mediocre movies for the last twenty years. And BABY BOOM is certainly no classic. But I am fond of it anyway. Even if the ending sort of takes everything back.
22 comments:
Patti - That really was a good movie. I think it portrays beautifully what it was like during the high-pressure early-'80's 'yuppie years.'
I agree with everything you said - I like Diane, this movie is fun though shallow, she's done a lot of other good work, and she has been in a bunch of unworthy crap. BECAUSE I SAID SO was probably the low point.
And of course ANNIE HALL is one of the classics. Jackie liked THE FIRST WIVES CLUB. She was also good in SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE.
Jeff M.
I watched a scene from BECAUSE I SAID SO at the gym. I nearly wept. Also liked her in MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, MANHATTAN, and a lot of other Woodys.
Your post reminds me of something I was thinking a few nights ago while LITTLE BIG MAN was on starring Dustin Hoffman. A lot of actors who came of age in the late 60s / early 70s have gone on to hundreds of mediocre rolls. Keaton, Hoffman, Nicholson, the Fonda kids and many others showed such amazing chops back but the scripts aren't there for any more. Or, if that's too cranky, then I'll say the editing isn't there. Shots don't last long enough for much acting before the camera moves.
LITTLE BIG MAN was a classic.
"It is a good day to die."
Jeff M.
So true. I don't think movies are really about acting anymore. They are about effects and a look.
Truthfully, none of the best actor/actress acting nominees would have been nominated thirty years ago. Okay, probably Daniel Lewis. But certainly not Jennifer Lawrence. Dozens of actresses in Hollywood turned in performances like that routinely. AMOUR was about acting if you can bear to watch it. The French still make movies where acting and story matter.
Never thought about it until today. We lionize the directors of the 1970s but one of the great things they did was let actors act. Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor but I mostly know that from In the Name of the Father. That was over 20 years ago. I will not be seeing Amour. There was once a time I could go down that road but I it's a bit too depressing for me now.
It was tough. Four of us saw it, two thought it was worth the angst.
I've probably seen this one several times in bits and pieces over the years. Keaton and Shepard are definitely the best thing about it Patti!
Yes, AMOUR was definitely worth it.
Jeff M.
I'm with Jeff: Diane rarely got roles that showed off her talent. ANNIE HALL and LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL might have been her best roles.
Yes, LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL was a good one.
I'm not so sure there's such a thing as a "darling baby", but that's only my personal POV. I don't recall this one at all, but I probably slid right past it, considering the subject. I was never much of a fan of Keaton, either.
I have never met a baby that wasn't darling! But this one was a keeper.
Jackie says the most memorable thing about the movie for her was the "gorgeous" long white coat she wore. I think it was her own coat and she wore it again in First Wives Club.
Jeff M.
I am sure she chooses her own clothes for her movies. She always has a look.
Oh that baby! So gorgeously adorable.
I love this movie. Don't care if it's shallow. Diane is perfection in this. Can't think who else could have pulled it off.
So what if it's a fairy tale. I like fairy tales.
I was going to mention LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL too. She did a few "edgy" movies in that period, including that and MRS. SOFFEL.
Jeff M.
My wife, Brenda, and I are hopeless romantics and love the movie "Something's Got To Give" with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. There was, I think, a scene where he told her how nice she smelled. And her character's response was: It's just soap. If that doesn't sum up the attraction between a man and a woman, nothing does. Yours truly, Toe.
Anothr movie I like more each time.
Anothr movie I like more each time.
I remember seeing this film and liking it too. Diane Keaton is a highly gifted and natural actor and I'd love to see her in more meaningful roles than she has got so far. Where's the mother in FATHER OF THE BRIDE? US film and serial makers have a penchant for making movies and sitcoms like BABY BOOM. I recall Kate Hudson saddled with her sister's three kids in RAISING HELEN and Melissa Hart raising her nephew and niece in MELLISA & JOEY and there are one or two other films on similar lines that I can't think of. A workable formula, nonetheless.
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