Almost There: Diane Keaton in "Shoot the Moon"
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 at 12:29AM 
The magnificent Diane Keaton is 75! The Best Actress champion of the 50th Academy Awards has been enchanting movie audiences since the early 70s, making a name for herself as a comedienne before proving she was a versatile performer, as good at having audiences cry for her as she's at making them guffaw. Unlike many great thespians of the silver screen, Keaton's Oscar history is a good representative of her talents. The winning turn in Annie Hall and the runner-up marvel that is Something's Gotta Give represent two wildly different approaches at comedy, one spiky and cerebral, the other warmly commercial. Then we have the romance of Reds and the melodrama of Marvin's Room, a drama played at the scale of an epic and a chamber drama respectively.
Still, one can quibble with the results and wish Keaton had gotten even more love from AMPAS. For instance, when I examined the battle of the titans that was Meryl Streep and Jessica Lange's bid for the 1982 Best Actress trophy, many mentioned how Diane Keaton. Some said she should have been present among the nominees for her work in Alan Parker's Shoot the Moon for which she got considerable buzz. I confess I agree with those Keaton-loving readers…
When we first meet Keaton's Faith and Albert Finney's George Dunlap, their union is beyond apparent salvation. It's not that the marriage is dead, but that it has already decayed and been stuffed into a taxidermized facsimile of its former self. It's just that everyone is still pretending the stuffed beast is still up and kicking, like petting a dead cat and acting like one hears purring. George has been cheating on his wife, she knows it, even their children know it, but the entire family keeps pretending everything's alright, keeps petting the lifeless cat.
It's all placid insincere smiles, averted looks, passive-aggressive nagging that pretends to be jolly bickering but is not. The moment there's no one to impress with a performance of matrimonial serenity, no children, no neighbors, no cameras, chaos reigns between Faith and George. Before she's an unhappy wife, Faith's a beleaguered mother, presiding over her loud brood with the mindless automation of a well-oiled machine. It's easy to pretend nothing's wrong when there's so much work to do, so many innocent faces to smile at while pretending everything's alright.
A trip to an award show where George is to be honored is especially excruciating. Silence is broken by desperate humor, but nobody is happy with the results of George's feeble attempt at small talk. Faith doesn't laugh at his jokes anymore. In snide tones, he says it's because she has forgotten laughing, but that pithy comment dies the same death as his jokes, floating mirthlessly in the stale air before crashing to the ground like a lead balloon.
It's especially weird and heartbreaking seeing this miserable scene unfold because Keaton's lack of humor Is so shocking. She's a clown, she's supposed to laugh and makes us laugh, but here her stone face has more to do with a Bergman closeup than a Buster Keaton gag. We all know that, when a clown cries, it feels all the more tragic, painted smiles melting under tears. Even when there's no waterworks, the effect's the same. The expectation of comedy crash into smithereens as it collides with the reality of a sad world where joy is a picture book lie we tell children.
A lie we tell ourselves too, though George and Faith seem to be beyond self-deception and are "glad" to revel in their misery. She's so wonderfully charming when talking to any person that isn't her husband. He's like an industrial magnet that pulls the darkest parts of Faith's personality from the dregs of her soul, making her worse, meaner, more bitter than she may truly feel. Divorce, in their case, isn't a sad conclusion but the last hope of salvation and we almost cheer as they start to distance themselves from each other.
When she accepts a call from a mysterious Jerry as her husband has come back home to pick up his books, one can't help but be charmed by Faith's performative coquettishness. She's provoking the man who had the gall to bring a policeman to help collect old belongings, having a bit of cruel fun at his expense, looking to hurt him a bit and thus give George a taste of his own foul medicine. Faith isn't immune to pettiness and Keaton portrays her going low with the ease of a natural humorist, illuminating her character's humanity by tarnishing the veneer of martyred saintliness that can manifest over the roles of betrayed spouses.
She's a complicated character and the actress allows that complexity to remain mysterious, to us and herself. Is she ready for new love with sexy pre-Robocop Weller, for example? Is she just trying to distract herself or bullishly pursuing the happiness that has been denied her for so long? Keaton doesn't necessarily resolve these doubts or answer these questions, but she doesn't need to, hinting at Faith's complexities without making the interiority of the character crystal clear.
It feels more natural this way, more honest than perfect transparency. People aren't transparent, more akin to stormy skies made opaque by dark clouds than to crystal clear limpid lakes. Of course, as things turn heated, violent thunder starts to explode through the tempest, emotional ambivalence becoming a frightening blast of destruction. In other, less florid works, when George and Faith's fights escalate to physical violence, including against the kids, things get uglier than they've ever been, and Shoot the Moon starts transmuting. Marital drama turns to domestic horror, the ravaged soul of a once loving husband playing the part of the slasher villain.
And after the nightmare comes the morning, cold and unforgiving, stinking of paternal death and anguish. Hot feelings petrify in the chill, like lava turning solid, and Keaton's entire performance becomes an exhausted shadow of itself. It's heartbreaking and harrowing, a projection of bone-deep tiredness that cuts through any hint and melodrama, gutting sentimental excess without mercy. Then there's a whisper of peace, then another explosion. Overall, it's a marvel of discipline and precision, a scalpel-sharp procedure that deserves all the praise it can get. It's one of Keaton's greatest achievements and one feels overwhelmed in despair just by thinking about it.
I hope I've made it clear why Diane Keaton should have been a Best Actress nominee in 1982. The HFPA did recognize her brilliance, as did the NSFC and NYFCC, though AMPAS didn't follow suit. The Oscar lineup consisted of Julie Andrews's musical delights in Victor/Victoria, Jessica Lange's mercurial luminosity in Frances, Sissy Spacek's calcinating despair in Missing, Meryl Streep's precise tragedies in Sophie's Choice, and Debra Winger's romantic iconography in An Officer and a Gentleman. Streep's Sophie was the victor, but the collection of five is quite splendid in its entirety. Winger was probably the most vulnerable of the lot and, had Keaton gotten the nod, she'd be the likeliest one to be left out. As much as that may sadden some, it wouldn't have been an injustice. Not in my book.
You can rent Shoot the Moon from most services, including Amazon and Youtube. It's worth seeking out, both for Keaton's performance and other qualities.
Reader Comments (24)
Shoot the Moon was released in Los Angeles and New York in January 1982 just as AMPAS voters were deciding Best Actress from a ballot with Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond, Meryl Streep in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and Diane Keaton’s magnificent work in Reds. The reviews for Shoot the Moon were so rapturous that it was apparent Keaton would win Best Actress the next year. Voters turned from her to the surprise win for Hepburn. And heartbreakingly, the early release of Shoot the Moon was forgotten by voters a year later.
If I didn't already love Cláudio, I'd love him now. This was one of the most impactful movies of my late teens/early twenties, along with THE ELEPHANT MAN, ORDINARY PEOPLE, BLOW OUT, THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, and KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. Keaton is, of course, top notch, as is Finney (who should have been nominated and won for this film, too). The late seventies/early eighties was the era of the "polite drama" where people get divorced, deal with death and so on but nobody ever raises their voices, nobody cries, nobody screams. This was more like a Bergman film, as Cláudio says. It's much closer to SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE than KRAMER VS. KRAMER and you didn't get that in American studio cinema at the time. You saw a grown man CRY for God's sake. It's stunning from the first reel to the last shot, and Keaton is the MVP throughout.
it's a phenomenal performance and definitely should've been nominated [over winger, i agree] but it's not even the best performance in the film: dana hill is heart wrenching and had she been included in supporting actress [over kim stanley] it would have made it the best best supporting actress line up of all time
I probably would have dropped Spacek for Keaton, personally. She's good in the film, but kind of one note: sad, fragile, sensitive (I guess that's three notes.) And the fact that Finney was denied a spot when fidgety fiddler Jack Lemmon was nominated for Best Actor for the eighth time (five or six times to many, in my book) was really sad.
I'm so happy to see this film discussed because it is an excellent one. I miss the days of the great small family dramas because as we are all aware they are being made less and less and in most cases becoming unnecessary long running tv dramas.
Keaton would've been an excellent actress nominee and while i adore most of the 82 lineup she'd be deserving over Andrews, Winger & Spacek. Finney no doubt should've been nominated although him adding another likely loss to his nominations would be heartbreaking. I agree with @par that Dana Hill was also an excellent member of the ensemble who would've deserved a spot over Stanley, Close & Lange (IMO)
Deborah Winger is so underrated and underused I'll never begrudge her any of her nominations. Plus to impress with only about half an hour of screentime? Werk Winger!
Enough Diane Keaton.
I think Keaton is great, but I also think that the 1982 Best Actress lineup was damn near perfect as is. To get nominated that year, your character had to run a full range of all possible emotions, and, while Faith went through a lot, starting off unhappy and descending from there just wasn't enough to stand out.
Keaton and Finney had a bad luck, I think they were in the number 6 spot, For me Winger and O'Toole are very good, but not better than Shoot the moon stars.
Damn, Rowena. All you seem to do is complain.
For me this is Diane Keaton's best performance in a career of quality work. She's so varied and vivid and not cowed in the least by going up a titanic talent like Finney who matches her excellence every step of the way. It's not a happy film but gripping with strong work by the supporting case especially the phenomenal Dana Hill as the couple's daughter.
She definitely deserved a place in the line-up taking either Julie or Debra's slot.
Keaton is the best actress there is if we're talking about the ability to excel both in drama and comedy.
Her Best Ever Performance but I love Lange a teensy bit more.
Had this been a fall or winter release - hell, even just a few months later - Keaton surely would've taken Winger's slot. Such a magnificent turn.
I heard a lot about this film as it was made during a tumultuous time for Alan Parker as his marriage had disintegrated and used the film to deal with what was happening around him and then he went into a darker place when he did Pink Floyd: The Wall. That must've been depressing.
This Best Actress lineup is one for the ages, but I would put in Keaton in place of Winger. And Finney should have been nominated as well. I would take O'Toole out.
@thevoid99 In some ways, though, this is really Bo Goldman's movie. The script had been around a while before Parker picks it up, at least that's my memory.
This really is a phenomenal piece of writing to go along with the performance. Kudos.
@Dan Humphrey "fidgety fiddler" is now my favorite description of actors like Jack Lemmon.
Albert Finney was great in this. As was Keaton.
One of Keaton's best post-Annie Hall is Theresa from Looking for Mr. Goodbar. I think she brilliantly played against type as a dedicated schoolteacher by day, and a lonely singles bar cruiser by night, who picks one guy too many.
On my ballot for sure, ditto Finney without hesitation. Two brilliant performances and a bafflingly underrated film. I guess the sentiment of Kramer vs Kramer will always win out. I will never not love funny Diane Keaton but my favorite performances of hers are oddly enough this film, Reds, and Mrs. Soffel. Something about her emotions in those three movies comes over with such laser like focus and purity. When she cries in Shoot The Moon it actually seems to be hurting her and her angry is almost elemental in its ferocity.
It’s a very nice roster of women, but as Lange voter here I still think Keaton gives a better performance than any of the other women nominated (yep that includes Streep) and she would have been on my ballot and my runner up. I’d take Winger or Andrews out to get Keaton in there. I’m actually no crazy about Spacek either I have to say even though she’s fine in the movie. But I’m not totally sure who my fourth and fifth slot would that year if I took both winger and andrews out.
Also Dana Hill is amazing and should have been a supporting actress contender. One of my favorite child performances.
Sorry to be late to this, "Shoot The Moon" is one of the most under-appreciated films. Alan Parker did some great work, and this could be considered his best.
Diane Keaton is terrific in this role, she kills it. Too bad it was the same year that so many other actresses were doing iconic roles as well. I don't care about the Oscar, Keaton already had one at this point.
I would like to see this film and Keaton get her due. A Criterion release for this would be great.
Lovely piece! A fabulous performance, probably her greatest dramatic work (maybe even her overall best). I think it's a shame she didn't really get to work a lot outside the studio system. The things she could achieve with artsy directors...
James -- Thanks for the insight into the race. I didn't know that about Shoot the Moon's initial reaction and how it affected Keaton's Best Actress bid for REDS.
Dan Humphrey -- Thank you for your kind words. Glad you enjoyed this write-up. Another thing that I believe distinguishes SHOOT THE MOOn from other similar American movies from the era is its almost aggressive denial of catharsis. That ending was shocking in its bleakness.
par, Eoin Daly & others -- I'd have nominated Keaton, Finney, and Hill for the Oscars. What a cast!
Michelle - I think winger's very good, though I prefer Keaton's un-nominated work.
NathanielB -- In some regards, I think the limited scope of Faith's fate makes her a more challenging role than a lot of more apparently complete character arcs. I always enjoy seeing an actor solve their way through a challenging role. It's why I tend to be doubly impressed by people who make so-called thankless roles shine.
Cafg -- Agreed.
markgordonuk -- As much as I loved Keaton, Lange is still my winner for 1982.
thevoid99 -- Thanks for the info about Parker. People in broken marriages creating art about broken marriages tends to result in quite caustic works. I'm thinking of Zulawski's Possession which came out in the early 80s too. Even when the script is not the director's work, there's an added layer of vitriol to the shooting and performances.
Arkaan -- Thank you for the magnificent compliment.
David Hollingsworth -- To my great shame, I have never seen LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR.
Thank you all for the feedback. It's always appreciated even when we disagree.