Baby Boom
J.C. Wiatt is a talented and ambitious New York City career woman who is married to her job and working towards partner at her firm. She has a live-in relationship with Steven, a successful investment broker who, along with J.C., agreed children aren't part of the plan. J.C.'s life takes an unexpected turn when a distant relative dies and the will appoints her the caretaker of their baby girl, Elizabeth. The baby's sudden arrival causes Steven to leave, breaking off their relationship. Juggling power lunches and powdered formula, she is soon forced off the fast track by a conniving colleague and a bigoted boss. But she won't stay down for long. She'll prove to the world that a woman can have it all and on her own terms too!
Working with a mid-range budget of $15.0M, the film achieved a respectable showing with $26.7M in global revenue (+78% profit margin).
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Baby Boom (1987) exhibits precise dramatic framework, characteristic of Charles Shyer's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 50 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.5, the film showcases strong structural fundamentals.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
J.C. Wiatt
Dr. Jeff Cooper
Steven Buchner
Fritz Curtis
Elizabeth
Helga Von Haupt
Ken Arrenberg
Main Cast & Characters
J.C. Wiatt
Played by Diane Keaton
High-powered Manhattan management consultant whose life is upended when she inherits a baby, forcing her to choose between career success and unexpected motherhood.
Dr. Jeff Cooper
Played by Sam Shepard
Vermont veterinarian who becomes J.C.'s love interest and represents the simpler, more authentic life she discovers in the country.
Steven Buchner
Played by Harold Ramis
J.C.'s yuppie boyfriend who abandons her when the baby disrupts their carefully planned upwardly-mobile lifestyle.
Fritz Curtis
Played by Sam Wanamaker
J.C.'s sleazy business partner who takes advantage of her distraction to steal her client and partnership position.
Elizabeth
Played by Kristina Kennedy
Baby girl who inherits to J.C., becoming the catalyst for her complete life transformation from workaholic to devoted mother.
Helga Von Haupt
Played by Pat Hingle
Eccentric food conglomerate executive who becomes J.C.'s client and partner in launching Country Baby organic baby food.
Ken Arrenberg
Played by James Spader
Patronizing advertising executive who pitches J.C. a corporate buyout of her baby food company for three million dollars.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (2% through the runtime) establishes J.C. Wiatt, "The Tiger Lady," strides confidently through her Manhattan office in power suit, barking orders. She embodies the successful 1980s career woman - no children, high income, total dedication to work. Opening montage establishes her sophisticated, child-free lifestyle with partner Steven.. The analysis reveals that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 14 minutes when J.C. Receives news that a distant relative in England has died, leaving her as sole guardian of a 14-month-old baby girl named Elizabeth. This inheritance arrives via attorney's letter. J.C. Is stunned - she never planned for children and doesn't want them.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 28 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 26% of the runtime. This indicates the protagonist's commitment to At the adoption agency, J.C. Has a bonding moment with Elizabeth and makes the active choice to keep her, refusing to sign the surrender papers. This is irreversible - she chooses motherhood over her carefully planned life. Steven cannot accept this decision., moving from reaction to action.
At 58 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 52% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat J.C. Loses The Food Chain account to her ambitious colleague Ken Arrenberg and is effectively forced out of her partnership position by Fritz Curtis. Given a face-saving "consulting" role, she realizes the corporate world will not accommodate motherhood. This false defeat reveals she cannot maintain her Manhattan career., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 81 minutes (73% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, J.C. Hits rock bottom in the broken Vermont house - no heat, no money, no prospects, completely out of her element. Her old identity as "The Tiger Lady" is dead. She faces potential financial ruin and questions whether she made a catastrophic mistake leaving everything behind. This is her dark night of the soul., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 89 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. J.C.'s homemade applesauce becomes locally popular, sparking the realization that she can synthesize her business skills with her new rural life. She develops "Country Baby" gourmet baby food line, combining her Manhattan expertise with Vermont resources. She discovers a third path - entrepreneurship on her own terms., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Baby Boom's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Baby Boom against these established plot points, we can identify how Charles Shyer utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Baby Boom within the drama genre.
Charles Shyer's Structural Approach
Among the 5 Charles Shyer films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.2, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Baby Boom represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Charles Shyer filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Charles Shyer analyses, see Father of the Bride Part II, Irreconcilable Differences and I Love Trouble.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
J.C. Wiatt, "The Tiger Lady," strides confidently through her Manhattan office in power suit, barking orders. She embodies the successful 1980s career woman - no children, high income, total dedication to work. Opening montage establishes her sophisticated, child-free lifestyle with partner Steven.
Theme
During partnership discussions, a colleague or Fritz Curtis mentions the impossibility of "having it all" - the career-family balance that professional women were promised. This theme of redefining success on one's own terms will drive J.C.'s journey.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of J.C.'s world: high-stakes consulting meetings, her relationship with equally career-focused Steven, their expensive apartment, dinner parties with sophisticated friends. The partnership opportunity at her firm is presented. Everything is ordered, controlled, and focused on professional achievement.
Disruption
J.C. receives news that a distant relative in England has died, leaving her as sole guardian of a 14-month-old baby girl named Elizabeth. This inheritance arrives via attorney's letter. J.C. is stunned - she never planned for children and doesn't want them.
Resistance
Baby Elizabeth arrives from England. J.C. debates what to do - she attempts to surrender the baby to adoption services, argues with Steven about keeping her, tries unsuccessfully to manage both baby and work. Various nannies fail. J.C. resists this new reality, certain she can't be a mother.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
At the adoption agency, J.C. has a bonding moment with Elizabeth and makes the active choice to keep her, refusing to sign the surrender papers. This is irreversible - she chooses motherhood over her carefully planned life. Steven cannot accept this decision.
Mirror World
Steven leaves J.C., unable to handle the lifestyle change a baby represents. This relationship represented her "old world" values - career first, no compromises. His departure shows that J.C. cannot maintain her previous life while embracing motherhood. She is now alone with Elizabeth.
Premise
J.C. attempts to "have it all" - juggling high-powered career with single motherhood in Manhattan. Comedy ensues: disastrous nanny situations, baby interruptions during crucial meetings, Elizabeth's needs conflicting with client demands. J.C. learns basic parenting while trying to maintain her professional image. Her work performance deteriorates.
Midpoint
J.C. loses The Food Chain account to her ambitious colleague Ken Arrenberg and is effectively forced out of her partnership position by Fritz Curtis. Given a face-saving "consulting" role, she realizes the corporate world will not accommodate motherhood. This false defeat reveals she cannot maintain her Manhattan career.
Opposition
J.C. struggles with her fallen status, financial pressure mounts, and she faces the reality that Manhattan has no place for her anymore. She makes the radical decision to leave the city entirely and buys a dilapidated Vermont house for $62,000. Upon arrival, everything goes wrong - the house is falling apart, she has no skills for rural life, money runs out.
Collapse
J.C. hits rock bottom in the broken Vermont house - no heat, no money, no prospects, completely out of her element. Her old identity as "The Tiger Lady" is dead. She faces potential financial ruin and questions whether she made a catastrophic mistake leaving everything behind. This is her dark night of the soul.
Crisis
J.C. processes her situation. She meets Dr. Jeff Cooper, the local veterinarian who represents a different kind of life and relationship - authentic, unhurried, accepting. She begins to see Vermont not as exile but possibility. In desperation and creativity, she starts making baby applesauce from apples on her property.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
J.C.'s homemade applesauce becomes locally popular, sparking the realization that she can synthesize her business skills with her new rural life. She develops "Country Baby" gourmet baby food line, combining her Manhattan expertise with Vermont resources. She discovers a third path - entrepreneurship on her own terms.
Synthesis
Country Baby becomes successful. Fritz Curtis and The Food Chain executives track J.C. down in Vermont with an offer: full partnership restored, $3 million for Country Baby, and heading the new division - but she must return to New York. This is the ultimate test: her old dream is offered back, but accepting means abandoning her transformation.
Transformation
J.C. turns down the partnership and New York return but negotiates to sell Country Baby while staying in Vermont to run it remotely. She has redefined success - not the corporate ladder, but motherhood, authentic relationships (with Jeff and Elizabeth), and work-life balance. Final image shows her happy in Vermont, the opposite of the opening's Manhattan power player.