Whenever I think of the film Kramer vs. Kramer, I have always been interested in the idea of the father bringing up his son by himself. After all, most unsuccessful marital relationships (certainly back then) result in a single mother taking care of her children rather than a single father bringing up children. With this thought lingering in my mind, it gave me enough initiative to find a copy of this film on VCD and start watching it.

However, after watching it, I was slightly disappointed with the film. I am not saying it was a bad film. I am just saying that the film could have used some fine tuning before it was released. Despite the fact the film had some flaws, the film took home 5 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Dustin Hoffmann), Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep) and Best Adapted Screenplay (it is based on Avery Corman's novel). Actors Justin Henry and Jane Alexander received nominations in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories.

Anyways, I'm supposed to be reviewing this film, right? OK, I will start reviewing.

Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffmann) is your typical workaholic father. Although all he wants to do is work his heart out to do what is best for the family, he spends a bit too much of his time at work as an art director for an advertising agency. The problem is that work has become more important to him than his own family and how they feel. His insensitivity towards them leads to the departure of his wife, Joanna (Meryl Streep), who leaves him to "find herself".

Faced with the dilemma of taking care of his son Billy (Justin Henry) and working full-time, Ted must accomodate time for work, time to make breakfast and dinner for his son, time to go grocery shopping, time to take Billy to the playground and time to do what a parent at home would do with his/her child. Ted initially finds it difficult to take care of his son, but the love between them blossoms over the next year and grows to be a loving father. While life at home gets better, Ted's work begins to suffer, and his boss (Bill Moor).

Ted also develops a relationship with Margaret (Jane Alexander), the next door neighbor. Despite initially disliking her for the influence she had in Joanna leaving the house (Margaret is divorced herself), the two become close friends and even though she causes Billy to fall and get 10 stitches in his face (it was close to permanently damaging his eye), Ted trusts her and asks her to be Billy's guardian if something happens to him.

However, just when things begin to get better, Joanna comes back. And she wants her son, which irates Ted and this leads to a bitter court battle between them for the custody of their son.

I won't tell you anymore of the story, otherwise I will completely spoil it for you.

First of all, I must say the acting in this film is absolutely amazing! Dustin Hoffman delivers an absolutely stunning performance of Ted Kramer, fully showing the difficulty of single-parenting through his emotions, the tone of what he says and by the simple expressions his face portrays. He does these so subtlely and so well that he fully deserved the Academy Award for Best Actor. Meryl Streep is just as good as Joanna. She portrays the coldness of her character very well, and the scenes in the court were done beautifully (Streep wrote all her lines in the court scene herself). She refuses to budge and the difficulty that she clearly portrays when facing questions at court was clearly evident and this would be the reason why she would win the Best Supporting Actress award (she did not win Best Actress because she was not in the film as much as other characters were). Jane Alexander portrayed the sympathetic nature of her character, Margaret, very well, while Justin Henry is cute as the son and delivers a sound performance, showing the effects the separation has had on him realistically (indifference, sadness etc.). Overall, all the acting in this film was superb and I think this film had one of the best ensemble casts ever!

However, despite the good acting, the characters of the film were flawed, especially Ted Kramer. Ted is initially an insensitive, career-obsessed, unsympathetic person. In less than a year, he becomes extremely sensitive and sympathetic. Fine, he's not perfect, but can a person change from insensitive, career-obsessed and unsymapthetic to sensitive, family caring, sympathetic? From my own personal experiences with people I have met, I know this is not true. A person simply does not change within less than a year. The change is gradual, and the film shows this change as immediate. Sure, you might argue that Ted had to adapt quickly to his son's needs, but still. A person cannot change that quickly.

I also feel the character of Margaret is flawed as well. To me, she seems so flimsy that one minute she hates Ted and the next minute, she has absolute respect for him and vice-versa for Joanna. It just seems so confusing that a person can be that flimsy in real life. Despite this, I feel all the other characters are not as flawed.

I also felt that the score for this film was wrongly placed. The soothing guitar theme at the beginning of the film, which again appears in various parts in the film, simply does not go with the overall theme of the movie. The music seemed to uplifting and happy for a film that concentrated on serious issues such as divorce and fighting for custody of a child.

Despite this, the film was soundly directed by Robert Benton. The story itself is touching and will inevitably want you to cry, but Benton does a great job in bringing the film to screen. He depicts the New York city life so well that it seems so vividly real. Benton also includes some major plot twists which just make you think, "darn, I thought that would never happen!" He also does a great job in the overall pacing of the film. Benton does not waste a roll of film, and paces this film so well that you are never bored. This is why he deserved his award for direction at the Oscars.

You may think I might be too critical in giving the film the 3-star. Despite the fact I really like the film, I feel that the character change in Ted is so unrealistic that I could not give the film anything higher than a 3. Despite that, I feel that this would be a good, enjoyable Saturday-night type of film that anyone would enjoy. Just be prepared to have a box of tissues at your side!

Thanks for reading the review.

Recommended:
Yes