|
Rated: PG
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, et al.
Director: Robert Benton Review
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
------------ 1970's reconsideration of *The Champ* that is
somehow more dated than that Thirties movie. Yes, I said dated: this movie
hardly resonates today as much as might be supposed. Meryl Streep's
housewife, searching for Personal Space and Inner Growth, belongs firmly
to the early period of women's lib. Today, many mothers work: young women,
watching this movie, might not understand what the fuss is all about. "Why
doesn't she just get a job, if she's so bored?" they might ask. "Why quit
on the marriage?" Granted, Dustin Hoffman's Kramer has insufferably
chauvinistic assumptions early on in the movie, but as seen today, even
that seems quaint, from another era. The whole of *Kramer vs. Kramer* is
probably not equal to the sum of its parts, but those parts are pretty
remarkable on their own, in particular the scene where Dustin Hoffman
attempts to make breakfast for his son. (Although I think most kids would
love French toast prepared in a coffee mug.) The charting of a father's
growing acquaintanceship and engagement with his son has probably never
been better demonstrated.
 |
