Diane Keaton’s evergreen beauty is the star of ‘Something’s Gotta Give’

It feels churlish to talk about a woman’s physical looks. Looks shouldn’t be important, and it feels a bit silly and reductive to talk about a woman’s looks when assessing her work, especially when it’s a woman as accomplished and busy as Diane Keaton. But physical beauty is an important theme in the 2003 Nancy Meyers film Something’s Gotta Give. The film was a huge box office success and Keaton earned a fourth Oscar nomination (a rarity for a comedic performance)

The script – written by Meyers – is about characters in late middle age who fall in love, despite their differences. Jack Nicholson is Harry Sanborn, a business mogul who ends up convalescing at his girlfriend’s home after a heart attack. His girlfriend Marin (Amanda Peet) is the beautiful daughter of a brilliant playwright, Erica Barry (Keaton), who is in the midst of writing her next big hit. Harry’s the archetypical player and has a habit of bedding women twenty years his junior.

Erica – obviously based on Nora Ephron – is a prim and opinionated woman who has built a life after a failed marriage, devoting her time to her career. The script reminds us repeatedly that Erica is an important scribe – and a very successful one, as evident by her massive vacation home in the Hamptons (in typical Meyers fashion, characters live in stunning, gorgeous homes with massive kitchens)

Though he’s with Marin in the beginning of the film, Harry quickly starts to develop feelings for Erica, despite their closeness in age. Erica, on the other hand, is being courted by Harry’s doctor, Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves), who falls gaga over her the minute he sees her.

Keaton’s performance was justly lauded at the release of the film, but the other noted reaction among critics and audiences was to the way she looked. In her late 50s, Keaton was gorgeous. Peter Travers from Rolling Stone called her “smashing.” Though Keaton was always presented as beautiful, in a relatable way, never has a script called attention to her looks the way Meyers’ has.

Though a very mainstream, commercial film, the emphasis on Keaton’s mature beauty over Peet’s younger beauty is subversive in that few mainstream romantic comedies have female leads over the age of 50 (with the possible exception of Meryl Streep comedies – though Streep continues to defy Hollywood rules of sexism and ageism) Erica’s age isn’t ignored in the film – she has anxiety over dating a young hunk like Julian – but it’s dealt with in a way that isn’t condescending or cruel. Erica’s not made a fool and despite her skittishness over her feelings for Julian, she’s dignified.

But all of the film’s messages and themes rely on Keaton’s look. It helps that Keaton looks her age. She’s stunning – Meyers with the help of cinematographer Michael Ballhaus – gift Keaton with some loving shots, in which she’s idealized. The light softens when she’s on screen, she’s practically glowing. And though she’s great-looking, she still has fine lines and a crinkly smile. One of Keaton’s assets as a comedienne is her expressive face. Her face is a sum of funny contradictions: her mouth is large and wide, her nose swoops up, and her heavy-lidded eyes droop. But these seemingly contradictory elements come together to make one of the most welcoming and winsome faces in cinema. Keaton’s a wholly expressive actress, reflecting a cascade of emotions in that malleable, ever-contorting face. She registers disappointment, hurt, skepticism, contempt, love, admiration. When Keanu Reeves’ character expresses admiration and lust for her, her face lights up.

Interestingly enough, Something’s Gotta Give does little in terms of exploring Keaton’s patented fashion sense. Clothing is important in the film – Erica is often dressed in tasteful white and beige, matching her surroundings. And true to Keaton, Erica’s covered up for most of the movie – Harry asks her about her fondness for turtlenecks – but unlike most Keaton characters, Erica’s wardrobe eschews the usual Keaton uniform of loose and baggy suits (Erica has one moment of Keaton-esque fashion inspiration in which she’s hiding inside a large tunic, large shades and a giant bucket hat) Clothing informs Erica’s WASP-ish character as well as her upper-class, moneyed social standing.

The other moment in the film that diverts from Keaton’s usual film work is the nude scene. Keaton’s figure and body are often obscured by layers of clothing. Her friend and costar, Meryl Streep called Keaton “one of the most covered-up persons in the history of clothes.” But Keaton does appear nude in the film – though the scene is brief – a blink-you’ll-probably-miss-it scene in which she’s caught unaware by Harry who stumbles into her bedroom. Though Erica is mortified, screaming, and trying in vain to cover herself with her arms before darting into another room, it’s clear that her body’s slamming. She’s gorgeous. It’s even more notable when recalling Nicholson’s partially-nude scene in the hospital, when his character is stumbling through the halls, his hospital gown exposing his buttocks.

The comparison between Nicholson and Keaton is important because Nicholson’s allowed to portray the Casanova-esque Harry, though time has wreaked havoc on his body. Meanwhile, Keaton – only a few years younger – must sport a body similar to Peet’s. For audiences to accept that a man as young and handsome as Reeves would fall for Keaton, she would have to possess the body and looks that are analogous to women Reeves’ age, though Nicholson isn’t subjected to the same pressure. It makes perfect sense that Reeves’ character would find Keaton’s Erica to be sexually attractive, but only because she’s presented as Hollywood beautiful. Had Keaton been allowed to age on screen as Nicholson did, Reeves character wouldn’t be expected to fall in love, and if he did, then the attraction would be either the crux of the film or the affair would be part of a larger message of acceptance and tolerance of all body types. It would tip into condescension. But we’re safe from all of that because Keaton’s body looks like bodies of the women half her age – even if her face is reflective of her age.

But just because Erica’s beauty is so important to the film working as a rom-com doesn’t mean that it’s a wholly superficial film that trades in Hollywood ideals of beauty. I mean, there are elements of that in the film – it’s inescapable, especially since Meyers isn’t a filmmaker who is interested in subverting Hollywood conventions too much. She’s an almost aggressively mainstream and commercial filmmaker. But what marks Something’s Gotta Give is that it’s clear that she both identifies with Erica and is absolutely in love with her star. Like with Woody Allen, Keaton has developed a muse-like relationship with Meyers and her ex-husband/collaborator, Charles Shyer. With Meyers and Shyer, Keaton has made three films – Baby Boom and the Father of the Bride films – and Meyers and Shyer were able to transform Keaton from a brainy, niche member of Allen’s troupe of actors to a successful and mainstream box office comedy star. In Something’s Gotta Give, Keaton’s relationship with Meyers has risen to a new level of adoration, one that is informed with obvious identification and empathy. The film would not have worked as it does had Keaton’s beauty been ignored or set aside – it’s just as important to the film’s script as the other key elements of the film.