Last night I was consumed by a new tv show I'd never seen before. It's called Homicide Hunter with Lt. Joe Kenda. I really liked Kenda's personality and presence. He has solved more than 400 homicides and mostly works out of Colorado. If you get a chance to catch the show, I know it will captivate you too!
Today I caught the film Baby Boom, from start to finish. I hate channel surfing and catching a good movie from the middle. An audience can develop a stronger appreciation for the film when seen in it's entirety. For me this film holds a lot of 1980s nostalgia. The music, the wardrobe, the perception that women are much too distracted by their personal lives to be a tiger in the fast paced workforce. The score for the film brings back great memories for me. Have you heard the main theme to this film? It's has a similarly strong melody like that of Forrest Gump. All you need is the first few notes of the tune before you recognize it and begin to hum along.
When I was a small child, I had learned how to use the VCR once I became tall enough to see it. I recognized the tapes we had based on the label. Although I couldn't read yet, I knew if it had 3 titles on it, what movies were on it, and in which order. Or if it had a colorful label on it, I would recognize it that way as well. I would play Baby Boom often. Not as often as Crocodile Dundee though! My Mom could tell you how often I wanted to watch that!
Now that I have seen Baby Boom as an adult, I can tell you it is still a great film. Diane Keaton has always been an exceptional actor, and she is what makes the film. In many ways she represents the working, American woman who strives for great success in a world run by men. The beginning of the film begins with a strong opening stasis. JC Wiatt is working hard to climb up the ladder at work, and almost gets there when she is offered a chance to become partner at the firm she works at. The inciting incident occurs when she has inherited a baby from a distant relative that passed away. Now what? How does the business woman balance both a baby and her fast paced job? She can't. The men at her work think she has become "too soft" and pass her partner position to her pupil. Offended she packs up and leaves, moves to the country with her baby to start anew. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong and she has a breakdown. Only now JC can persevere by starting her own business and creating her own major success. Here, in the country, she meets a man that challenges her emotions. He challenges her because she has never met a man like him, that will compliment her personally and professionally without any corporate competition. They never talk about business. At this point in the film, the strong, fearless woman we all sympathized with begins to go soft. It is almost too whimsical how she exhibits the emotions that of an immature schoolgirl when she encounters this man. And the awkwardness between them is too much for the big screen, but just right for the stage. If the chemistry between them was stronger, we would dismiss the level of awkwardness. There are also a few lines in the film that are just not relevant or demonstrate weakness for our heroine.
By the end of the film the firm competes for JC Wiatt's attention and she has to choose between her life in the country, or to go back to city corporate business. Our heroine is back on top! Finally. And the baby doesn't age over the course of JC's move to the country, building her home business empire, and achieving success.
Overall, this is a feel good, easy going film. It isn't intended to be more.
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