Baby Boom (film)

Baby Boom is a 1987 romantic comedy film directed by Charles Shyer, written by Nancy Meyers and Shyer, and produced by Meyers and Bruce A. Block for United Artists. It stars Diane Keaton as a yuppie who discovers that a long-lost cousin has died, leaving her a fourteen-month-old baby girl as inheritance.

This article is about the 1987 film. For the Baby Boom generation, see Baby boomers.
Baby Boom
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCharles Shyer
Produced by
Written by
  • Nancy Meyers
  • Charles Shyer
Starring
Music byBill Conti
CinematographyWilliam A. Fraker
Edited byLynzee Klingman
Production
company
Distributed byMGM/UA Communications Co.
Release date
  • October 9, 1987 (1987-10-09)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[1]
Box office$26 million[2]

The film received generally favorable reviews and was a modest box-office success during its original run, eventually grossing $26 million. The film launched a subsequent television show, running from 1988 to 1989, and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.

Plot

J. C. Wiatt (Diane Keaton) is a driven Manhattan career woman (nicknamed the "Tiger Lady") typical of the 1980s whose fast-paced life leaves her with no time for romance or relaxation (or as the narrator in the beginning puts it she works "5 to 9"), though she derives pleasure from her frantic schedule and demanding job. She works as an advertising executive at a high profile advertising firm on Madison Avenue and lives with an investment banker, Steven Buchner (Harold Ramis), whose job and life are likewise hectic. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she inherits a toddler, Elizabeth (twins Kristina and Michelle Kennedy[3]), from a deceased cousin whom she had not seen in over 30 years.

J.C. tries to give Elizabeth up for adoption but finds that she has grown too attached to the child, forcing a reevaluation of her priorities. When Steven learns of this, he is not thrilled. J.C. explains to Steven that a lot of working people raise kids and she believes she can, too, something Steven has no desire to partake in. The couple amicably break-up and Steven moves out. J.C. is left to raise the child on her own, though she hires a nanny to watch Elizabeth while she's at work.

Her boss, Fritz Curtis (Sam Wanamaker) tells her that Hughes Larrabee (Pat Hingle), the head of "The Food Chain," a major organization that owns and operates many brands of foods, is looking for someone to manage The Food Chain account. Fritz tells J.C. that landing this account could make her a partner. J.C. manages to land the account with her tough business attitude and is therefore put in charge of it. Fritz also decides that Ken Arrenberg (James Spader), J.C.'s young apprentice whom she also recruited 2 years ago, is ready for the big time and will be on her team with the Food Chain account.

Caring for the child soon occupies much of her time and her career begins to suffer, especially when she starts bringing Elizabeth to classes that are intended to help boost babies' intelligence. As a result, Ken starts taking up the slack on the Food Chain account without J.C.'s consent, though it pleases Fritz and Larrabee. Assuming correctly that `the boys' club' is taking over, especially when Ken starts making decisions without her, this starts to get on J.C.'s nerves. Frustrated at the interference, J.C. tells Fritz that she not only wants Ken off the Food Chain account but off of her team entirely.

To her surprise, Fritz tells her that he's decided that `for the good of the account as well as the company', he's going to take her off the Food Chain account instead and have Ken take over full time. He tells J.C. that he's made his choice that got this company grossing millions of dollars a year, but has no idea how many grandchildren he has and she needs to do the same if she wants to continue her career.

J.C. is offended as they wouldn't have had the account in the first place if she hadn't gotten it, but Fritz, knowing how unstable J.C. has become, tells her that he can't afford to take risks with the Food Chain account. He informs J.C. that he wants her to do low profile a.k.a. accounts no one else wants to deal with from now on as he feels they would be better suited for her now that she is raising a child. However J.C. understands the humiliation in the unwarranted demotion and quits her job instead.

She moves into a house in the country in Vermont. Purchasing the home without first having seen it in person or having it inspected she finds it is riddled with problems (failing plumbing and heating, lack of water, bad roof). Suffering a nervous breakdown and on the brink of financial collapse, she sees an opportunity to sell baby food applesauce she had concocted for Elizabeth from fresh ingredients. Amid the clamor for her new products she develops a relationship with local veterinarian Jeff Cooper (Sam Shepard). At first annoyed by him, she is opposed to Jeff's overtures and is focused now on returning to New York as fast as possible. Finding a buyer for the house proves almost impossible as it was for sale for 5 years and she was the only interested buyer.

After a rough start she succeeds in selling her "Country Baby" gourmet baby food line and soon business is booming. Orders for it start pouring in from all over America. J.C. and Jeff start to grow closer, even Elizabeth grows fond of him.

Finally, her old boss Fritz and his client, Larrabee, take notice. The Food Chain offers to buy her company for millions, take her product nationwide, and give her back her career and high-prestige life. On the brink of accepting, she remembers how they treated her before and decides to give the men back a taste of their own medicine as she tells them that she can grow her enterprise on her own without having to sacrifice her personal life. She then returns to Vermont to be with her adopted daughter, her new lover and presumably wildly successful enterprise.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in Los Angeles, New York City and Peru, Vermont. Filming took place between November 5, 1986 and February 3, 1987.

Reception

Critical response

Baby Boom was favorably received by audiences and critics alike. The Rotten Tomatoes criticism aggregation website gives it an approval rating of 75% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 6.19/10.[5]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that the film "isn't much more than a glorified sitcom, but it's funny, and it's liable to hit home."[6] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times said that the filmmakers were "not afraid to be sophisticated and screwballish in the best ‘30s tradition, and they know just how far to exaggerate for laughs without leaving touch with reality entirely or destroying sentiment. The humor in “Baby Boom” is sharp without being heartless."[7] Roger Ebert, who gave the film three out of four stars, said that "all of [the film's storyline] is too good to be true, of course, but that's why I enjoyed it."

"Baby Boom" makes no effort to show us real life. It is a fantasy about mothers and babies and sweetness and love, with just enough wicked comedy to give it an edge. The screenplay, written by producer Nancy Meyers and director Charles Shyer, has some of the same literate charm as their previous film, "Irreconcilable Differences," and some of the same sly observation of a generation that wages an interior war between selfishness and good nature."[8]

The film debuted at #3 at the domestic box office, behind Fatal Attraction and Hello Again.[9]

Diane Keaton's performance was singled out by Pauline Kael from The New Yorker, who described it as "a glorious comedy performance that rides over many of the inanities in this picture (...) Keaton is smashing: the Tiger Lady's having all this drive is played for farce and Keaton keeps you alert to every shade of pride and panic the character feels. She's an ultra-feminine executive, a wide-eyed charmer, with a breathless ditziness that may remind you of Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier."[10]

Baby Boom's writers combat a one-dimensional review in which American journalist, writer, and university professor Caryn James expresses her distaste in J.C. "abandon[ing] a high-powered Manhattan career for the joys of life in Vermont with a baby and Sam Shepard." The article, published on August 13, 1989 by the New York Times, calls forth the intersectionality of a working mother and explains how J.C.'s search for equality prompted her to leave her elite New York position. According to its writers, Baby Boom depicts "the increasing prejudice women face today" stereotyped into two categories - the sweet caregiver or the self-reliant businesswoman - and aims to destroy that outdated mindset.[11]

Nominations

Box office

It earned a respectable USD$1,608,924 in its opening weekend in the U.S. and earned approximately $26,712,476 in its entire run.[13][14]

Home video

The film debuted strongly on VHS.[15]

References
  1. Larocca, Amy (September 11, 2015). "In Conversation With Nancy Meyers". Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. "Baby Boom". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  3. Dawn, Randee. "Where did adorable 'Baby Boom' tot go after 1987 movie?". today.com.
  4. Jack Mathews (November 19, 1987). "He Wants to Add New Pages to UA's Illustrious History". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  5. Baby Boom at Rotten Tomatoes
  6. Maslin, Janet (October 7, 1987). "Film: 'Baby Boom'". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  7. Thomas, Kevin (October 7, 1987). "Film Review : Satire That Lowers The 'Baby Boom'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  8. Ebert, Roger (October 7, 1987). "Baby Boom". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  9. Voland, John (November 10, 1987). "Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  10. Kael, Pauline (November 16, 1987). "Baby Boom". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  11. James, Caryn (August 13, 1989). "FEMINIST HEROINES; Women As Victims". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  12. "Baby Boom (1987) Awards". imdb.com. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  13. "Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  14. John Voland (October 20, 1987). "Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
  15. Dennis Hunt (May 26, 1988). "Video Charts : Babies Booming, 'East L.A.' Rising". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
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