MJ's View: Remembering Diane Keaton.

The Actress Diane Keaton.

A few days ago the world was a place that included Diane Keaton.

Not it's a world that does not. Hence, it's a drearier world.

Still, there are her movies. And her great laugh still echoes in my head.

-Woody Allen

It seemed appropriate to venture out to see a new rom-com the day after news of Diane Keaton's death at 79, and my review of Roofman will post separately. Last night, I watched Annie Hall for the umpteenth time and remembered how much I cherish Keaton's screen presence: what a difference she's made in how I see movies and life.

Keaton was an important influence on my budding interest in movies back in the 1970s: performances in string of Woody Allen comedies, including Play It Again Sam, Sleeper, Love and Death, Manhattan and, of course, her iconic titular role in Annie Hall for which she won an Oscar.

But she showed range in depth in other, very different films of that era, including The Godfather I & II and the edgy, controversial sex thriller, Looking for Mr. Goodbar. She was smart, funny, unconventional and, above all (for me), fearless. The roles she played were not traditional girl sidekick parts. They were stand-up, stand alone (if necessary) women that were flawed, curious, and independent. Her looks - not like the classic Hollywood pin-up - conveyed a beauty that seemed to radiate from within, her smile carrying at least a thousand megawatts.

Keaton's unique style and awkward wit made the deepest impression. I could rely on her gauche verbal rapport if my own personal conversations became uncomfortable. When I began teaching, my students were curious about my "different" way of dressing: oversized blazers and straight-leg jeans with loafers and matching socks.

I knew where my inspiration came from: it was my spin on Keaton's eclectic Annie Hall: comfortable, slightly offbeat, with a touch of feminized masculinity: I often wore neckties and shunned clothing that was too frilly or revealing. Today, on the top shelf of my closest, there lives a black hat box with delicate lavender flowers. Inside is my "Annie Hall" hat. Though I'd never suggest I could equal Keaton's panache, I still think of her gender-crossing fashion aesthetic whenever I find a jacket or sweater that looks just a little bit unusual or unique.

As a film actress, Keaton did the near impossible, moving effortlessly between light comedies (Father of the Bride) and complex dramas (Reds, Marvin's Room). Later in her career, she showed us that women over fifty were still vital, sexy, and funny. Something's Got to Give gave me hope that personal relationships could still be exciting as I moved into my forties. And on and on.

I think I've seen all of Keaton's films at least once, the last one in 2023, Book Club: Next Chapter. Not her best movie or most memorable role by a long shot, but still vintage Keaton dressed in her own quirky style, eyes lighting up with an inner joy that said she loved what she was doing. I think the thing that makest me saddest right now is knowing there will never be another Diane Keaton movie to look forward to.

But I'm grateful for the catalogue of movies I can watch whenever life tells me I need a boost. Too, there are her thoughtful, introspective memoirs, Then Again (2011), Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty (2014) and, more recently, Brother and Sister (2020). Ever self-effacing, self-deprecating, always probing, Keaton shares more than her story: she frames her life experiences in ways that are relatable, even ordinary, yet her ability to understand her own life and path was nothing short of extraordinary. She never married, though her fascinating relationships with Allen, Al Pacino and Warren Beatty are the stuff romance novels are made. Steadfastly indepedent, Keaton found ways to balance an already thriving professional life with the need for personal fulfillment and satisfaction. In her fifties, she adopted two children as a single parent.

Though I never met Diane Keaton, I felt a sense of loss when news of her passing was announced. She was significantly instrumental in shaping my love of movies, of how I see the world: fiercely independent and undeniably unique. She seemed comfortable with the discomfort of following her own bliss, taking roads less traveled, even if those choices were not traditional or socially convenient. So many moments in my life are tied to her films, to characters she played so undeniably well that I can't imagine anyone else every playing them. Like Simone de Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, and Isak Dinesen, Keaton is part of a small, but dyamic group of women who have - and to continue to - shape who I am and how I navigate this world.

Unique. Brilliant. Honest. Original. Eccentric. Magical. Radiant. Unapologetically Herself. These are the words and phrases being used to describe Keaton. Steve Martin, her co-star in the Father of the Bride series, shared a recent interview in which his Only Murders in the Building collaborator Martin Short asked Keaton, "Who's sexier, me or Steven Martin?" To which Keaton quipped, "I mean, you're both idiots." Vintage Keaton.

I don't know if there are angels or a heavenly reward for any of us, but if any of those exist, then Diane Keaton should now enjoying some kind of paradise reserved for cinema's elite. If not, well then....la-dee-da!

After all, what happens happens... and then we're gone.

Diane Keaton (R) and Woody Allen (L)) in Manhattan (1979)