KRAMER VS KRAMER

On Tuesday 19th at 4pm: the legal drama film, KRAMER VS KRAMER (1h45mins) starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.

It received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with high praise for its direction, story, screenplay and performances of the cast, with major praise directed towards Hoffman and Streep’s performances.

The film received a leading 9 nominations at the 52nd Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, and won a leading 5 awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. At the 37th Golden Globe Awards, the film received a leading 8 nominations, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, and won a leading 4 awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. It also received 6 nominations at the 34th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy. When he has learned to adjust his life to these new responsibilities, Joanna resurfaces and wants Billy back. Ted, however, refuses to give him up, so they go to court to fight for the custody of their son.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes it has a score of 90%. The website’s consensus reads: “The divorce subject isn’t as shocking, but Kramer vs. Kramer is still a thoughtful, well-acted drama that resists the urge to take sides or give easy answers.”

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars, giving praise to Benton’s screenplay. “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.”
Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it a “fine, witty, moving, most intelligent adaptation of Avery Corman’s best-selling novel”, with Streep giving “one of the major performances of the year”, and Hoffman “splendid in one of the two or three best roles of his career.”
Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film four stars out of four, and wrote, “Kramer vs. Kramer never loses its low-key, realistic touch. You will sit at the end of the film wondering why we don’t see more pictures like this. After all, its story is not all that unusual.” He thought that Hoffman gave “one of his most memorable performances”, and “should win the Academy Award next April”.
Variety wrote, “Stories on screen about men leaving women, and women leaving men have been abundant as of late, but hardly any has grappled with the issue in such a forthright and honest fashion as Kramer … While a nasty court battle ensues, the human focus is never abandoned, and it’s to the credit of not only Benton and Jaffe, but especially Hoffman and Streep, that both leading characters emerge as credible and sympathetic.”
Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times declared it “as nearly perfect a film as can be”, and “a motion picture with an emotional wallop second to none this year.”