Baby Boom (1987, Diane Keaton, Harold Ramis)

In rom-com Baby Boom, J. C. Wiatt (Diane Keaton) has it all: she’s a high-earning management consultant with a partnership beckoning, and shares an apartment to die for with lover Steven Buchner (Harold Ramis). Then two distant relatives die in a car crash, bequeathing her their baby daughter. Initially planning to put the child up for adoption, Wiatt begins to feel maternal pangs and keeps her, much to the disgust of Steven, who moves out, and her firm, who fire her as her work slips. Moving to Vermont, she happily settles into being a single ‘mother’ but misses a man in her life and a purpose. Cue local vet Jeff Copper (Sam Shepard) and Wiatt’s increasingly successful cottage industry: making baby food…

Shyer’s light touch (he went on to direct both Father of the Bride films) ensures the film never gets maudlin, and Keaton’s move from boardroom tigress to panicky ‘mom’ while retaining the audience’s credibility is a testament of her ability to convince in a film that captures the comedies of the 40s mixed with modern-day reality. The film was so successful it spawned a TV series, starring Charlie’s Angel Kate Jackson in Keaton’s role.

production details
USA | 110 minutes | 1987

Director: Charles Shyer
Script: Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer,

cast
Diane Keaton as J.C. Wiatt
Sam Shepard as Dr. Jeff Cooper
James Spader as Ken Arrenberg
Sam Wanamaker as Fritz Curtis
Pat Hingle as Hughes Larrabee
Harold Ramis as Steven Buchner
Kristina Kennedy as Elizabeth Wiatt
Linda Ellerbee as Narrator (voice)
Mary Gross as Charlotte Elkman
Shera Danese as Cloak Room Attendant
Britt Leach as Mr. Boone
Victoria Jackson as Eve
Paxton Whitehead as Instructor
Annie Golden as Baby Sitter 2