Kramer vs. Kramer
by Robert Benton
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dustin Hoffman, Howard Duff, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry, Meryl StreepDirector: 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. Kramer
Movie 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. Kramer
A 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
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Great 1970s Movies of Disillusionment
ChinatownParamount; Release date: 2009-10-06; DVD
Best price: $12.74
Price in other shops:
Dirty HarryWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-09-09; DVD
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
The China Syndrome (Special Edition)FONDA,JANE; Release date: 2004-10-26; DVD
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
Kramer vs. KramerHOFFMAN,DUSTIN; Release date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $6.53
Price in other shops:
Network (Two-Disc Special Edition)DUNAWAY,FAYE; Release date: 2006-02-28; DVD
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
The Last Picture Show (Definitive Director's Cut Special Edition)SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 1999-11-30; DVD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
All the President's Men (Two-Disc Special Edition)HOFFMAN,DUSTIN; Release date: 2006-02-21; DVD
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops:
The ConversationHCKMAN,GENE; Release date: 2000-12-12; DVD
Best price: $5.27
Price in other shops:
Marathon ManHOFFMAN,DUSTIN; Release date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $4.61
Price in other shops:
The French ConnectionHACKMAN,GENE; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $8.71
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
CimarronWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-01-31; DVD
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops:
The Life of Emile Zola (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $1.68
Price in other shops:
All the King's MenCRAWFORD,BRODERICK; Release date: 2006-09-05; DVD
Best price: $3.09
Price in other shops:
Driving Miss Daisy (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2003-02-04; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
"...First Do No Harm"Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2002-09-03; DVD
Best price: $5.11
Price in other shops:
Out of AfricaREDFORD,ROBERT; Release date: 2000-02-29; DVD
Best price: $37.97
Falling in LoveDE NIRO,ROBERT; Release date: 2002-01-15; DVD
Best price: $4.51
Price in other shops:
Before and AfterDisney; Release date: 2004-04-06; DVD
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops:
A Cry in the DarkSTREEP,MERYL; Release date: 1999-12-21; DVD
Best price: $1.28
Price in other shops:
Tootsie - 25th Anniversary EditionSONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-02-05; DVD
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops: