Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) tells her little boy Billy, asleep in bed, that she loves him, packs her suitcase and sits on the sofa waiting for her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman) to get home from work.
He’s secured an account at work and is flying high on his success as he leaves the office, ... Read review
It might have started out as a small, rather arty divorce drama butKramer vs Kramerwas the ... more
biggest cinema hit of 1979. It confirmed Dustin Hoffman's status as a major star in a performance that combined his trademark twitchy intensity with deep sensiti...
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Kramer vs Kramer is the box office smash that gathered 5 Oscars including Best Picture ... more
Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep. Returning home late from work one night a career-obsessed Ted Kramer is told by his wi...
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Winner of 5 Academy Awards, KRAMER VS. KRAMER is a ground-breaking drama about the ... more
heartbreak of divorce and the struggle between work and family. Young husband and father, Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) loves his family - and his job, which is where he s...
Kramer vs Kramer is the box office smash that gathered 5 Oscars including Best Picture ... more
Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep. Returning home late from work one night a career-obsessed Ted Kramer is told by his wife that she is leaving him. After a life of being 'somebody's daughter' or 'somebody's wife ' she's going off to find herself - leaving Ted to care for their 6 year-old son. Ted while trying to hold down his job gets to really know his son: cooking his meals taking him to the park understanding every need and fear. For the first time in his life he feels like a fulfilled parent. But then Joanna returns. And she wants her son back...
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Production Year: 2007 - Drama - Director: Mike Binder - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Mike Binder
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Carl Franklyn, Carl Franklin - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Meryl Streep, William Hurt, Renee Zellweger, Tom Everett Scott, Nicky Katt, Lauren Graham
Advantages: excellent acting, tearjerker Disadvantages: not enough Streep, tearjerker
Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) tells her little boy Billy, asleep in bed, that she loves him, packs her suitcase and sits on the sofa waiting for her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman) to get home from work.
He’s secured an account at work and is flying high on his success as he leaves the office, eager to tell Joanna his good news. He enters the apartment and his wife tells him quietly she’s leaving him. And she’s not taking Billy.
... ...Henry (not particularly current though as the films they’ve starred in recently were not listed).
Theatrical trailers for Hook and Kramer vs Kramer
It's available at play.com for a bargain price of £5.99 and worth every penny!
Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) tells her little boy Billy, asleep in bed, that she loves him, packs her suitcase and sits on the sofa waiting for her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman) to get home from work.
He’s secured an account at work and is flying high on his success as he leaves the office, eager to tell Joanna his good news. He enters the apartment and his wife tells him quietly she’s leaving him. And she’s not taking Billy.
Ted is devastated, not understanding what’s gone wrong and, after yelling at her, begs Joanna to stay. He’s exasperated and finds the prospect of looking after Billy alone daunting. After following Joanna to the elevator he finally accepts she's not going to change her mind and turns back to accept his responsibility to his son.
15 months pass and Ted’s had a hard time adapting to full time fatherhood. Things haven’t been an easy ride for him. But just as things settle down with Billy, Joanna reappears – and she wants Billy back and is prepared to go to court and fight for him.
* What I thought *
I first saw this film in 1979 at the cinema in the USA when I was a young thing. I remember back then how it disturbed me even though my own parents were still together. A few of my friends at school had separated or divorced parents and this film really brought home what affect it can have on the child.
Billy, played by Justin Henry, was a perfect choice. I have a low threshold for Hollywood kids but this child can act, and really tug at your heartstrings. He’s a blonde cutie with a pudding bowl haircut (tee hee). You go through every emotion with him as he faces life without his mommy and experiencing a love/hate relationship with Ted as he realises he’s the only parent he’s got at home now. Their first breakfast together is both moving and funny as Ted tries to make French toast for Billy, and can’t find where the implements are kept. He tries to do too many things at once and ends up ruining the coffee and burning the frying pan. He also doesn’t really know how Joanna makes French toast and makes a mess of it, even down to adding a little egg shell to make it ‘more crunchy’. Ahem … sounds like my cooking! ;-)
As the film progresses we see how Billy and Ted adapt to their morning routine, both silently laying the table for breakfast, Billy reading his cartoons, Ted reading his newspaper and how familiar and easy it becomes for both of them.
Hoffman was outstanding in this film. Angry and hurt, he shouts a lot and is unaware of the cracks in his marriage. We feel for him as he tries to juggle coping with Billy and his job. He has to take over the role of both mother and father and his office don’t like it when works starts to take second place.
Having watched the documentary about the film, I found out how much Hoffman had contributed to his role as Ted Kramer. He was going through a ‘real life’ divorce and ended up improvising a lot of scenes, as did Streep who was asked to re-write one of her courtroom speeches from the view of a woman, rather than the director, Robert Benton’s own version, which he wasn’t happy with.
Streep is only on screen for maybe 15 minutes. And yet she plays her part with a quiet and fierce determination, wanting to get her son back after she’s seemingly turned her life around. She has a pale fragility in the court scene and comes across as vulnerable to the point where you feel really sorry for her.
The viewer feels for both main characters, who obviously clearly both love their son. And Justin Henry, again, equally fits in with the adults as easily as if he really was their son. The rapport between all three characters is superb.
A mention has to go to Jane Alexander, who plays Margaret, the neighbour. She’s Joanna’s friend but soon her loyalties change and she’s sitting in the park with Ted. Their friendship is realistic and easy going and there’s a genuine affection and warmth there.
This is a heartbreaker. You experience the hurt along with the characters, which shows how well it is scripted and acted. Streep and Hoffman are two of my favourite actors who adapt easily to any role they are given, and as the Kramers they bring very real emotions to the surface.
The strength of the film is the acting – there are few characters, no action and no musical score I was aware of. That means there is little to concentrate on but the people involved. The viewer is drawn in right from the first scene and I felt enormous sympathy for them. Hoffman and Streep both won Oscars for their roles and boy, did they deserve them!
Just as an aside – there is one incident of flashing the boobies so it’s probably not for really young viewers although what can I say, I was nine when I first saw it!
The film's going to look dated to the younger peeps, the fashions are a little .. ahem .. stiff but the issues dealt with are as real today as they were back then.
It is a weepie, KM does not cry that easily and this did bring a little tear to her eye (just the one, mind!). This does come highly recommended from me as one of my favourite movies of all time. Five stars and tissues at the ready!
* Other details *
Certificate: PG Year: 1979 Approx 1hour 40 mins long Director: Robert Benton Based on the book by Avery Corman
* Oscars *
Best Actor – Dustin Hoffman Best Supporting Actress – Meryl Streep Best Director – Robert Benton Best Screenplay – Robert Benton
* DVD extras *
subtitles
special features – exclusive documentary which is around 48 mins long but I found it very interesting as the actors talk about their input in the film. And there’s recent interviews with how the stars look now, including Justin Henry. There are also clips from the film and Streep and Hoffman talk about their improvisations that took each other by surprise!
Filmography – Benton, Hoffman, Streep, Jane Alexander and Justin Henry (not particularly current though as the films they’ve starred in recently were not listed).
Theatrical trailers for Hook and Kramer vs Kramer
It's available at play.com for a bargain price of £5.99 and worth every penny!
Advantages: Well acted, emotive Disadvantages: Uncomfortable watching at times
Joanna Kramer has been suffering for depression for some time and realises that her only way out of the rut that she has dug herself into is to leave her husband and her son until she has sorted herself out. This is unexpected news for her husband, Ted, who gets home from work with good news about a new contract, only to find his wife packed up and ready to go. Confused, he has no choice but to let her go and explain to his son the next morning that ... ...felt deeply sorry for Ted Kramer and was very much on his side. Having had a breakdown since then and just generally being older and wiser, I wondered if that would change my loyalties. And to a certain extent it did; I certainly had a far better understanding of Joanna's reason for leaving her family. There are times when some of us at least hit rock bottom, and until we have found our way back up, coping with normal life is just not possible - ...
sunmeilan 29.01.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Kramer vs Kramer (DVD)
...the academy award winning film Kramer vs. Kramer, directed by Robert Benton and stared Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. To be honest id never actually herd of the film and only watched it a few years back, I think it came on channel 5 one evening and with nothing else on TV, I though I might as well watch it. I was actually pleased with the film because it was enjoyable to watch, the film gave such a opening and bold statement about marriage, parenthood ... ...Plot: Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep), is a bright, articulate, educated graduate from Smith College, however she reluctantly chooses to be a stay at home mother and look after her son Billy. Meanwhile, Ted works for a advertising company, and is hardly ever at home to enjoy the company of his son or wife, his busy schedule and commitments at work make it very tough for him to juggle both, however things are about to take a drastic turn.
Fed up of ...
jaygami1986 12.02.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Kramer vs Kramer (DVD)
Advantages: Great script, direction, acting, everything Disadvantages: Nothing to my eyes.
...movie , lol. Anyways, Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman.The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and how they cutely deal with it . I usually don't watch old movies . But i won't exactly term this as an old movie .[ '79] It completely took me into the film, just like any forrest gump or titanic or even "The Thirteenth Floor" for that matter, which was a very good movie. This ... ...potrayed it so elegantly . Kramer vs. Kramer reflected a cultural shift which occurred during the 1970s and the period of second-wave feminism, when ideas about "motherhood" and "fatherhood" were changing. Cheers to Robert Benton for equally weighing both their roles. On the whole, it was 105 mins of Hollywood's pride that I totally enjoyed and i want you also to enjoy. It won 5 oscars including Best actor, Best actress,Best director & Best picture. ...
digan_sam 25.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Kramer vs Kramer (DVD)
Advantages: One of those films that you have to say you have watched. Disadvantages: Was nothing that I expected. No long drawn out court battle!
Would you believe this is one of those Oscar winning films that I have only just got around to viewing? Shame on me. It is also one that after viewing left me feeling that I had missed nothing over the years. Yes, Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman play their roles exceptionally well and the story was good but it was over all too soon. For those that still have it on their ‘watch’ list, it tells the story of a divorced couple and their fight ... ...leaves the father (Dustin Hoffman) to bring up the child, so we watch how they cope with the father and son relationship and the difficulties dad faces trying to juggle between job, shopping and taking his son to and from school. It soon proves to be a difficult task for dad and he looses his job. At the same time, mum appears back on the scene and is filing for custody of her son. There is a court custody battle to determine who is and who will ...
carolinesite 15.02.2001 (14.02.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Kramer vs Kramer (DVD)
Advantages: A good story of real life issues Disadvantages: May bring some discomfort to people going through this
...story about mr and mrs Kramer going through the motions of seperation,divorce and of course lets not forget the custody battle of the poor child involved here. I was very distraught by this film as ive been through the same & i will advise anybody going through it at the time of picking this film,just wait till your own experience is over before you sit down to watch this film. Its the originall sinario , the arguements , the hurt and pain , the ...
wbl189 08.10.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Kramer vs Kramer (DVD)
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Advantages: Surprisingly compelling, good performances Disadvantages: None really
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This isn't a brilliant film, but it was enjoyable and I don't see why it should be any less famous than War of the Roses and KramervsKramer, which were blockbusters in the 80s and have become classics. I am really surprised that it is not on DVD - not even in the US - and hope that this situation will change soon. If you really want to watch it, there are a few VHS copies available on Amazon from 95p.
Classification: 15
Running time: 108 minutes ...
Best Screenplay Based On Material Previously Produced Or Published 1980 (Robert R. Benton)
OSCAR
Best Actor In A Leading Role 1980 (Dustin Hoffman)
OSCAR
Best Actress In A Supporting Role 1979 (Meryl Streep), Best Actor In A Leading Role 1980 (Dustin Hoffman), Best Director 1980 (Robert R. Benton)
DVD Description
Joanna Kramer, a Manhattan housewife, can no longer face life with her husband Ted. She walks out leaving her son Billy in Ted's charge. Ted has to adjust his life and face up to his new found responsibilities. Just as he starts to find his feet, Joanna returns, intent on fighting for custody of her son. Based on the best-selling novel by Avery Coleman.
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