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Kramer vs. Kramer by Robert Benton
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Dustin Hoffman, Howard Duff, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry, Meryl Streep Director: Robert Benton Brand: HOFFMAN,DUSTIN Cinematographer: N?stor Almendros Writer: Robert Benton Editor: Gerald B. Greenberg Producer: Richard Fischoff Producer: Stanley R. Jaffe Writer: Avery Corman DVD: Region Code 99 Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Georgian (Subtitled); Chinese (Subtitled); Thai (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dubbed, Subtitled Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 105 minutes DVD Release Date: 2001-08-28 Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Kramer vs. KramerMovie Review: a landmark film Summary: 4 Stars* This movie captures its time. I am in my forties and I know several people in my generation whose family dynamic parallelled that of the Kramers-- a workaholic father, and an under-appreciated mother whose dysfunctional relationship scars their child (as poignantly symbolized by the prominently pictured scar on the character Billy's eye).
* The acting by each of the Kramers is believable. I rate the boy Billy as the most surprisingly well acted and touching, with Meryl Streep's character not far behind. Dustin Hoffman's performance was fine, though he has always struck me as being full of himself, and desperately in need of being the center of attention, as he seemed to be in this film.
* The court scenes: I would agree with several reviewers who thought they were caricatures, most glaringly so when Dustin Hoffman's character's lawyer yells at Meryl Streep like he was her father and she was a child who had broken an expensive vase. Nevertheless, I still felt the pain of each side, as well as the shame of needing to be in a trial before they could truly listen to one another. Again, I know several people whose parents were involved in divorce proceedings that must have had much in common with the Kramers'.
* I loved the father-son scenes where they are bonding. Bedtime reading, Dad listening to corny kid jokes, Dad letting his son cry and not giving in to the urge to make him stop, Dad holding his son and encouraging him to be brave while getting stitches. I think this is one of the films that made it culturally OK for fathers to do these things, and nowadays people forget how pervasive it was for fathers to be breadwinners and nothing more.
* (SPOILER) I would agree with other reviewers' assertion that motherhood was ultimately given the shaft in this film. Meryl Streep decides in the end to give up her son, in what I can only assume was a 'happy ending' meant to boost ticket sales. After all, the film encourages us to sympathise with the father and does a comparatively half-hearted job of invoking our emotions for the mother, so what else besides the father keeping his son could be considered a happy ending? This definitely felt like a sell-out moment by Meryl Streep. I would cite this as the single, though painfully glaring, blemish of the story.
* Despite this smearing of an unappreciated mother, I still think the film holds a lot of truth about its generation, and that its contribution to the cultural shift that saw fathers being encouraged to spend more time in more ways with their children and their wives is ultimately unappreciated by those who say the film has not aged well.
Summary of Kramer vs. KramerA man deals with the problems of single parenthood when his wife leaves him and his son, and then the problems which arise when she returns and wants her son back. Genre: Feature Film-Drama Rating: PG Release Date: 1-MAY-2007 Media Type: DVD 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
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