Diane Lane made her film debut in the 1979 American romantic comedy ‘A Little Romance’ directed by George Roy Hill. The film currently holds a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Following her debut, she went on to star in films like ‘Touched by Love’ (1980), ‘Cattle Annie and Little Britches’ (1981), ‘National Lampoon's Movie Madness’ (1982), ‘Six Pack’ (1982), and ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains’ (1982). In 1983, she starred as ‘Sherri "Cherry" Valance’ in the American coming-of-age drama film ‘The Outsiders’ directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed over $33.7 million on a budget of $10 million. She next starred in films like ‘Rumble Fish’ (1983), ‘Streets of Fire’ (1984), ‘The Cotton Club’ (1984), ‘Lady Beware’ (1987), ‘The Big Town’ (1987), ‘Vital Signs’ (1990), ‘Knight Moves’ (1992), ‘Chaplin’ (1992), and ‘Indian Summer’ (1993). In 1995, she played the role of ‘Judge Barbara Hershey’ in the American superhero film ‘Judge Dredd’ directed by Danny Cannon. The film was largely panned by critics and failed to perform at the box office. She continued to star in films like ‘Wild Bill’ (1995), ‘Jack’ (1996), ‘Mad Dog Time’ (1996), ‘Murder at 1600’ (1997), ‘Gunshy’ (1998), ‘A Walk on the Moon’ (1999), ‘My Dog Skip’ (2000), ‘The Perfect Storm’ (2000), ‘The Glass House’ (2001), and ‘Hardball’ (2001).
Lane received an ‘Academy Award’ nomination for her portrayal of ‘Connie Sumner’ in the 2002 erotic thriller film ‘Unfaithful’ directed by Adrian Lyne. The film opened to a mixed reception but managed to gross over $119.1 million on a budget of $50 million. She was next seen in films such as ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ (2003), ‘Fierce People’ (2005), ‘Must Love Dogs’ (2005), ‘Hollywoodland’ (2006), ‘Jumper’ (2008), ‘Nights in Rodanthe’ (2008), ‘Killshot’ (2009), and ‘Secretariat’ (2010). In 2013, she portrayed ‘Martha Kent’ in the Zack Snyder-directed superhero film ‘Man of Steel.’ The film received mixed reviews from critics but managed to gross over $668 million on a budget of $225–258 million. She next starred in films like ‘Every Secret Thing’ (2014), ‘Inside Out’ (2015), ‘Trumbo’ (2015), ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ (2016), ‘Paris Can Wait’ (2017), ‘Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House’ (2017), ‘Justice League’ (2017), ‘Tully’ (2018), and ‘Serenity’ (2019). She last appeared in the 2020 American neo-western film ‘Let Him Go’ directed by Thomas Bezucha. The film received a positive response from critics.