Director: Robert Benton
Writer: Robert Benton (Screenplay) Avery Corman (Novel)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry, Howard Duff, George Coe
Plot: Ted Kramer’s wife leaves her husband, allowing for a lost bond to be rediscovered between Ted and his son, Billy. But a heated custody battle ensues over the divorced couple’s son, deepening the wounds left by the separation.
Tagline – There are three sides to this love story!
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Masterclass
Story: Kramer vs Kramer starts as Joanna Kramer (Streep) walks out on her businessman husband Ted (Hoffman) leaving him to raise their child Billy (Henry). Ted must learn how to be a single parent while also keeping his career on path because he is on the verge of one of his biggest moments of his career.
15 months later Joanna reappears in the Ted’s life wanting custody which leads to a heated custody battle between the parents while Ted must deal with his own career problems.
Thoughts on Kramer vs. Kramer
Characters – Ted Kramer is a busy marketing man whose wife walks out on him leaving him to raise his child alone, the added responsibility of raising his son, his work starts to get comprised but it is when his wife returns, where Ted must fight for full custody of his own son. Joanna is the wife that walks out on the family, when she returns she wants to have custody of her son again, we don’t learn much else about her during the time which disappoints. Margaret is the neighbor that is there for Ted during his tough times. Billy is the child that finds himself in the middle of the custody battle after 15 months with just his father.
Performances – Dustin Hoffman gives us an acting masterclass here showing he can give us an Oscar worthy performance given the right material. Meryl Streep is fantastic in the supporting role showing us just how good her talent was going to be. Justin Henry gives on of the best child actors performances too in this film.
Story – The story follows one man needing to learn to be a better father once he is left alone with his son, before turning into a custody battle, which has become an all too often event in the modern world. Seeing how the custody battle unfolds brings us into the reality of how difficult a job being a single parent holding down the job on demanding success level can be. We learn how wrong the system appears to be in one of the most powerful films you will see.
Settings – The New York setting shows how busy the lives of the people involved would be.
Scene of the Movie – The aftermath of the case in the park.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – I feel we could have learnt a lot more about Joanna’s motivation during the 15-months too.
Award Wins: Won 5 Oscars
Final Thoughts – This is one of the most powerful, perfectly acted movies you will ever see, the emotions you will feel will leave you broken for what is one of the best films ever made.
Overall: Easily one of the greatest films of all time.
Rating
