| Kramer vs. Kramer | |
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Original film poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Benton |
| Produced by | Richard Fischoff Stanley R. Jaffe |
| Written by | Avery Corman (novel) Robert Benton |
| Starring | Dustin Hoffman Meryl Streep Justin Henry Jane Alexander |
| Music by | Paul Gemignani Herb Harris John Kander Erma E. Levin Roy B. Yokelson Antonio Vivaldi |
| Cinematography | Néstor Almendros |
| Editing by | Gerald B. Greenberg Ray Hubley Bill Pankow |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 17, 1979 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $106,260,000[1] |
Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 American drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son. It received five Academy Awards in 1979 in the categories of Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director.
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Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) is a workaholic advertising executive who has just been assigned a new and very large account. After being given the news, he returns home to find his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) in the process of leaving him. Saying that she needs to find herself, she leaves Ted to raise their son Billy (Justin Henry) by himself. Ted and Billy begin to resent each other as Ted no longer has time to carry his increased workload, and Billy misses the love and attention he received from his mother. After many months of unrest, Ted and Billy begin to cope with the situation and eventually grow to love and care for one another.
Ted befriends his neighbor Margaret (Jane Alexander), who initially had counseled Joanna to leave Ted. Margaret is a fellow single parent and the two become kindred spirits. One day as the two sit in the park watching their children play, Billy falls off the jungle gym and severely cuts his face on a toy plane he was playing with. Picking him up, Ted sprints several blocks through oncoming traffic to the hospital, where he comforts his son tenderly, representing his increased emotional connection and sense of responsibility for the child since his wife left.
Fifteen months after she walked out, Joanna returns to New York in order to claim Billy, and a custody battle ensues. During the custody hearing, both Ted and Joanna are unprepared for the brutal character assassinations that their lawyers unleash on the other. For instance, Margaret is forced to confess that she advised Joanna to leave Ted if she was as unhappy as she professed, although she also attempts to tell Joanna on the stand that her husband has profoundly changed. Eventually, the damaging facts that Ted was fired because of his conflicting responsibilities with his son, forcing him to take a lower-paid job, come out in court, as do the details of Billy's accident.
Finally, the court awards custody to Joanna, not so much due to the evidence on both sides but due to the assumption that a child is best raised by his mother. Ted discusses appealing the case, but his lawyer warns that Billy himself would have to take the stand in the resulting trial and Ted cannot bear the thought of submitting his child to such an ordeal. He therefore decides not to contest custody.
On the morning that Billy is to move in with Joanna, Ted and Billy make breakfast together, mirroring the meal that Ted tried to cook the first morning after Joanna left. They hug in a very tender moment as they both know this is their last breakfast together. Joanna calls from the ground floor, asking Ted to come down to talk. She tells Ted that, while she loves Billy and wants him with her, she knows that he is already home, and that his true home is with Ted. She will therefore not take him. As she enters the elevator, she asks her ex-husband "How do I look?". The movie ends with the elevator doors closing on the emotional Joanna, right after Ted answers, "You look terrific," as she heads upstairs to talk to Billy.
Kate Jackson was originally offered the role played by Meryl Streep but was forced to turn it down. At the time, Jackson was appearing in the TV series Charlie's Angels, and producer Aaron Spelling told her that they were unable to rearrange the shooting schedule to give her time off to do the film.[2] At the time, Streep was cast as Phyllis (the one-night stand Ted has); this role was eventually given to JoBeth Williams when Streep was cast as Joanna.
The film received positive impact from critics, receiving 88% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.[3] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars, giving praise to the screenplay by Robert Benton: "His characters aren't just talking to each other, they're revealing things about themselves and can sometimes be seen in the act of learning about their own motives. That's what makes 'Kramer vs. Kramer' such a touching film: We get the feeling at times that personalities are changing and decisions are being made even as we watch them."[4]
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. The film was widely praised for the way in which it gave equal weight and importance to both Joanna and Ted's points of view.[5]
The film won 5 Oscars, another 31 wins and 15 nominations.
Later remade in India as Akele Hum Akele Tum, staring Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala.
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