7 Best Diane Keaton Movies to Watch: ‘The Family Stone’ and More

Fans around the world were shocked by the passing of beloved actress Diane Keaton on October 11 at age 79.

The Academy Award–winning actress was known for her unforgettable roles in Annie Hall and The Godfather.

The Watch With Us team has picked four standout performances that capture her wit, charm and emotional depth.

From comedies to sweeping dramas, these movies highlight Keaton’s versatility and prove why she’ll always be one of Hollywood’s greats.

‘The Godfather’ (1972)

In a film dominated by men, Diane Keaton stands out as mob wife Kay Corleone, one of the most significant female characters in The Godfather trilogy. As the girlfriend and eventual wife of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), she represents how the violence of the mob world infiltrates even the most innocent lives.

Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece is filled with legendary performances — from Marlon Brando to James Caan — but Keaton’s quiet strength makes a lasting impression, grounding the story’s chaos in human emotion. The Godfather remains a timeless classic that defined modern cinema.

The Godfather is streaming on Pluto TV.

‘Annie Hall’ (1977)

The role that earned Keaton her Oscar — and became her defining performance — Annie Hall was written for her by Woody Allen. Allen plays Alvy Singer, a neurotic man dissecting his failed romance with the unforgettable Annie Hall (Keaton).

Funny, poignant and endlessly quotable, the film rests on Keaton’s natural charisma and singular style, which helped redefine what a romantic comedy heroine could be. Her performance made Annie an icon — not just of fashion and wit, but of authenticity and vulnerability in love stories.

Annie Hall is streaming on Tubi or Pluto TV.

‘Looking for Mr. Goodbar’ (1977)

Coming out the same year as Annie Hall, Looking for Mr. Goodbar showed a darker side of Keaton. She plays Theresa Dunn, a New York City schoolteacher who is dissatisfied with her 9-to-5 life. She plunges into the city’s swinging singles scene, jumping from one casual affair after another, including a dalliance with the abusive Tony (Richard Gere). Theresa is desperate for connection, but with her personal life a mess and her relationship with her older sister, Katherine (Tuesday Weld), strained, the only satisfaction she can find is in a sleazy bar.

Based on the bestselling novel by Judith Rossner, Looking for Mr. Goodbar is an engrossing look at the ups and downs of a single woman’s love life in the late 1970s. Liberated but still plagued with Catholic guilt, Theresa makes some pretty terrible choices, but she’s never portrayed as stupid. Keaton’s performance is devoid of “la-di-da’s” and flightiness — instead, it’s grounded and sometimes severe, which perfectly captures Theresa’s quiet desperation.

Rent Looking for Mr. Goodbar on Prime Video.

‘Reds’ (1981)

Keaton shines opposite Warren Beatty in this sweeping epic, where they play writers and activists Louise Bryant and John Reed — whose relationship is tested during the Russian Revolution of 1917. The film movingly portrays the conflict between love and ideology, set against a backdrop of political upheaval.

Jack Nicholson also delivers a standout turn as playwright Eugene O’Neill. Beautifully shot and emotionally rich, Reds captures Keaton’s gift for blending passion with vulnerability, reminding audiences that few actors could command both the heart and the intellect the way she did.

Reds is streaming on Pluto TV.

‘Baby Boom’ (1987)

Baby Boom is pure fantasy — a yuppie comedy about a career woman, J.C. Wyatt (Keaton), who trades in the boardroom for a nursery. When she inherits her dead cousin’s orphaned toddler, Elizabeth (Kristina and Michelle Kennedy), J.C. initially wants to give her to a foster home and return to her all-consuming corporate job. But she can’t quite quit Elizabeth, so she quits her job, moves to Vermont and gives motherhood a go. Things don’t work out quite the way J.C. planned, but she doesn’t mind, especially when a handsome local vet (Sam Shepard) shows romantic interest in her.

With a plot straight out of a Hallmark movie, Baby Boom shouldn’t work — but thanks to Keaton, it does. Her J.C. is a workaholic, and while she loves Elizabeth, she also sees the child as a project, a challenge and a potential source of revenue. (J.C. starts up a homegrown baby food business that, well, booms right away.) A capitalist fantasy, Baby Boom is slick and commercial, but Keaton gives it an unexpected heart that makes it surprisingly moving.

Baby Boom is streaming on Tubi.

‘Something’s Gotta Give’ (2003)

When shallow music executive Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) heads to the Hamptons with his young girlfriend Marin (Amanda Peet), he doesn’t expect to fall for her mother Erica (Keaton). After a heart attack leaves him recuperating at Erica’s beach house, sparks fly between the two — complicated further when Harry’s charming doctor (Keanu Reeves) develops feelings for her too.

A witty and tender look at love and aging, Something’s Gotta Give showcases Keaton’s effortless comedic timing and emotional depth. It also interrogates the stereotypes of older men who date much younger women and frequently flips them on their head.

Something’s Gotta Give is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.

‘The Family Stone’ (2005)

Keaton’s last true big hit, The Family Stone is now a holiday staple that runs around the clock on cable. When Everett Stone (Dermont Mulroney) brings his uptight girlfriend, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker), home to meet his large, hippie-dippy family near Christmas, things go from awkward to worse very quickly. Everett’s mother, Sybil (Keaton), doesn’t like Meredith and thinks Everett is making a mistake. She’s right, of course, but Everett’s too stubborn to see what’s obvious to everyone else. He’s also the last to know that Sybil is sick, and it might be her last holiday to set things right.

There’s plenty to nitpick about The Family Stone — the comedy is way too broad, the third-act couple-swapping is groan-inducing and the Stone family is so smug about their freewheeling ideas that it could turn a Bernie bro into a MAGA lover. Yet it all somehow works, and that’s largely due to Keaton, who makes her concerned matrarch funny and warm when she could’ve easily been cold and manipulative. It’s easy for great actors to be great in great movies, but Keaton was one of the few performers who could elevate mediocre material and give it life, class and soul.

The Family Stone is streaming on Prime Video.