Diane Keaton...

Diane Keaton was a part of the wallpaper of the rooms in so many of the women in my generation's lives. She showed up often. She made us laugh, and cry, and those hats. And, gloves, and belts. And never marrying. She made all of it ok, whichever idiosyncrasies we wanted to call our own, she made them cool.

If I’m going to pick one Diane Keaton movie to watch tonight, it’s Baby Boom.

There are plenty of great ones. Annie Hall made her a star. Something’s Gotta Give gave her that unforgettable mix of laughter and heartbreak. The Family Stone showed her quiet strength. But Baby Boom is the one that feels the most like her. It’s smart, funny, and about a woman trying to figure out what really matters when the life she built starts to fall apart.

She plays J.C. Wiatt, a successful New York executive who suddenly inherits a baby. She’s got the job, the power, the apartment, and no interest in bottles or bedtime. Then life hands her a curveball, and she has to start over. Watching her trade her briefcase for baby food, and then turn that chaos into something meaningful, is still one of the best things she ever did on screen.

That’s how I see Diane Keaton. Someone who never tried to be anyone but herself. She didn’t play the Hollywood game. She dressed how she wanted, talked how she wanted, and made smart women look cool long before anyone else cared about that.

Baby Boom also says something about her real life. She didn’t become a mother until she was fifty. She used to say she never really saw herself as one. Then she did it anyway, on her own terms, just like J.C. Wiatt. Watching it now, you can feel that connection. It’s almost as if she knew where she was headed.

If I’m going to remember Diane Keaton tonight, it won’t be through her romances or her Oscar speeches. It’ll be through this film about a woman who figures it out as she goes. That was her magic. She made uncertainty look brave. She made starting over look possible.

So yes, tonight it’s Baby Boom. Because it isn’t just a movie about motherhood or work. It’s about finding out who you really are when life refuses to go according to plan.