Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Robert Benton

Writers:

Avery Corman (novel)
Robert Benton (written by)

Release Date:

19 December 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

There are three sides to this love story!

Plot:

A just divorced man must learn to care for his son on his own, and then must fight in court to keep custody of him.

Plot Keywords:

Advertising | Woman With Glasses | Cooking | Elevator | Divorce

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 31 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Ted Kramer
Meryl Streep	...	Joanna Kramer
Jane Alexander	...	Margaret Phelps
Justin Henry	...	Billy Kramer
Howard Duff	...	John Shaunessy
George Coe	...	Jim O'Connor
JoBeth Williams	...	Phyllis Bernard (as Jobeth Williams)
Bill Moor	...	Gressen
Howland Chamberlain	...	Judge Atkins
Jack Ramage	...	Spencer
Jess Osuna	...	Ackerman
Nicholas Hormann	...	Interviewer
Ellen Parker	...	Teacher
Shelby Brammer	...	Ted's Secretary
Carol Nadell	...	Mrs. Kline

Also Known As:

Kramer Versus Kramer (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | UK:A (original rating) | Indonesia:Dewasa | UK:PG (video rating) | Sweden:11 | Netherlands:AL | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Chile:18 | Finland:S | Norway:12 (1980) | Singapore:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

The first cut ran 43 minutes longer than the eventual film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ted's job interview takes place at 4pm during the office Christmas party, but outside the office window Manhattan is bathed in bright mid-day sun.

Quotes:

Billy Kramer: When's mommy coming back?
Ted Kramer: I dont know, Billy. Soon.
Billy Kramer: How soon?
Ted Kramer: Soon.
Billy Kramer: Will she pick me up after school?
Ted Kramer: Probably. And if she doesn't I will.
Billy Kramer: What if you forget?
Ted Kramer: I won't forget.
Billy Kramer: What if you get run over by a truck and get killed?
Ted Kramer: Then Mommy will pick you up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Matthew Fox/Tenacious D (#32.7)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Concerto in C Major for Mandolin & Strings 1. Allegro

An Intelligent and Solid Film About Divorce

After a decade of turbulent unrest, American movies began to switch gears and turn their cameras away from war-torn battlefields, political corruption, and general social unease to the more intimate world of family dysfunction. The toll the selfish Baby Boomers began to take on the American family as they grew up and had kids of their own was making itself felt.

"Kramer vs. Kramer" is one of the first of these dysfunctional family dramas that would continue to be so popular throughout the 1980s, and it's one of the best. It gets a rather bum rap now, because it's known as the film that beat "Apocalypse Now" for the 1979 Best Picture Academy Award, but comparing these two films is like comparing a banana to a marinated chicken breast: they're not remotely the same, but can't we enjoy them both? Director/writer Robert Benton doesn't try to do anything fancy with his movie; its strength lies in its performances, those of Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep particularly, playing a divorced couple fighting childishly and selfishly over their son. The courtroom scene in which they duke it out for custody, and in which each is forced to hurt the other in terrible ways, is devastating, and feels authentic. The movie doesn't present Hoffman's solid dad as a hero, or Streep's straying mom as a villain. They're neither good or bad as people -- they're simply bad at being married.

The film is tear-jerky at the finale, but not in a manipulative way. It earns its right to elicit sobs.

Grade: A