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Amazon.com essential video: Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, Kramer vs. Kramer remains as powerfully moving today as it was when released in 1979, simply because its drama will remain relevant for couples of any generation. Adapted by director Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, this is perhaps the finest, most evenly balanced film ever made about the failure of marriage and the tumultuous shift of parental roles. It begins when Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) bluntly informs her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman) that she's leaving him, just as his advertising career is advancing and demanding most of his waking hours. Self-involvement is just one of the film's underlying themes, along with the search for identity that prompts Joanna to leave Ted with their first-grade son (Justin Henry), who now finds himself living with a workaholic parent he barely knows. Juggling his domestic challenge with professional deadlines, Ted is further pressured when his wife files for custody of their son. This legal battle forms the dramatic spine of the film, but its power is derived from Benton's flawlessly observant script and the superlative performances of his entire cast. Because Benton refuses to assign blame and deals fairly with both sides of a devastating dilemma, the film arrives at equal levels of pain, growth, and integrity under emotionally stressful circumstances. That gives virtually every scene the unmistakable ring of truth--a quality of dramatic honestly that makes Kramer vs. Kramer not merely a classic tearjerker, but one of the finest American dramas of its decade. --Jeff Shannon Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-12
Another key cultural artifact
"Kramer vs. Kramer" is a perfect artifact that speaks to the discourses of the men's movement and the women's movement. Rating: 
Date: 2008-05-22
"Sometimes Mommy and Daddy Don't Get Along..."
In several ways, this movie is really great work. It starts with Dustin Hoffman (An Art Director) trying to get his company a major contract. He comes home late only to realize that his wife (Streep) is leaving him and thus leaving him in charge of their preteen son. We don't know exactly why she left, but we are lead to believe that Hoffman was so involved in his job, that he didn't understand Streep's pain. (And we are permitted some sympathy for her.) At the time this movie was made, divorce was becoming more common, and single parenting was becoming a trend. This movie appears to be a reaction against the concept that the mother was undoubtedly the better parent for the child to live with. (One is entitled to wonder if this movie was the foundation for "Mrs. Doubtfire," but we won't go there.) Moving on, Dustin Hoffman tries REALLY HARD to handle his responsibilities to his son Billy, while at the same time holding down his job. We can sense that the abrupt departure of Streep is also taking its toll on him, but fortunately, he does find help from Jane Alexander. (His wife's best friend) One great thing about this movie is that it is not your typical: 'Father knows best' scenario. Hoffman gets angry and frustrated. At one point, he picks Billy up and throws him (though on a bed). But Dustin is not perfect. He is a human being who does the best he can under the circumstances. A really moving moment is when Billy falls in the park and Dustin rushes him through the streets to the hospital. The platonic love between Hoffman and Alexander is also a great aspect of this movie. Jane Alexander does her role as the family friend who wants to help VERY WELL. Despite the problems between Billy and Dustin, their relationship improves vastly, and they do recover from Streep's abrupt departure. (An especially beautifully done scene is when Hoffman helps Billy ride a bike for the 1st time.) But tensions rise, and Streep resurfaces (over a year later) and suddenly wants her child back. We can scarcely blame Dustin for his rage here. Either Streep is ill, or she has no conscience. (And while we may have had some sympathy for her at the start of the film, it is certainly gone now.) To make matters worse, Dustin gets unexpectedly and brutally fired from his job. (Not a good situation in any case. But even worse if you are trying to win a custody battle!) In an especially well drawn set of scenes, Dustin Hoffman lands a new job in less than a day. (He's overqualified for it to be sure, but it is in his field, and we can infer that his life will settle into a more traditional 9-5 slot, which is good.) The movie then proceeds into the custody hearing with predictable results. One of my few complaints here is that Streep's lawyer used some arguments that didn't make sense. (Dustin caused some trouble at his job because he had to attent to his son who was suffering a 104 degrees fever.) Without going on too long, in this sad story, there is an interesting form of comic relief. (When Dustin tries to find wording for things like divorce and custody hearings that his son can understand: "Well...sometimes mommy and daddy don't get along...") Also worth mentioning are 2 scenes where we get the idea with no spoken words. (Hoffman and Billy get their routine for breakfast down knowing that Meryl Streep is not coming back, and where after their 1st miserable attempt at making french toast, they get the routine down without even having to say anything to each other.) Overall, it's a really great movie that shows that situations don't always arise from heroes vs villains. Sometimes they arise through conflicts of well meaning people with different ideas. Rating:
Date: 2008-03-15
A great movie!!!
I saw this film when it was originally released about thirty years ago. I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it now. It's a great movie and two of my most favorite actors are Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Their son did a remarkable job as well. I highly recommend this film. Rating:
Date: 2008-03-11
Some People are Clueless
For everyone complaining how it was a bad movie obviously had no idea what they were watching or the point of the whole movie. The point was not for a family drama the whole point was to show a fatal flaw in the justice system. Back in the day there was a law in place saying that if a child was under a certain age and both parents were able to take care of the kid that it would by default go to the mother because women were better nurturers.
The whole point of the film was to show that fathers can nurture just as good as mothers and mothers should not just be given custody by default. To truly understand this movie you would have to have some knowledge of family law back in the 70's and early 80's. Its like watching a WW2 movie without knowing the background behind WW2
plus this law was very much an issue back in that time..only watching it now does it seem dumb cause the atmosphere and justice system changed Rating:
Date: 2008-03-08
"TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT' Hemingway
A film that gave Hoffman his first Oscar and Streep the first of her record 13 Oscar nominations. Just promoted to a high ranking advertising position, Hoffman arrives home to find Streep packed and moving out,leaving son Henry behind with daddy. One can sense what's been going on; the old story of a "wired" father spending too much time at work, and a mother who "needs to find herself". She does so, spending 15 months in California, seeing a shrink, and landing a lucrative job. Meanwhile, back at the ranch in New York, Hoffman has nobly been doing "double duty", bonding well with his son, although the stress finally catches up with him. When he loses a vital account, he's fired by his best friend. At the same time, Streep reappears and sues Hoffman for custody.Welcome to the Alamo circa 1836.The final 20 minutes are too absorbing to describe, so get hold of a copy and see what you missed almost 30 years ago. |
