Day 112 - Kramer vs. Kramer

Day 112          Kramer vs. Kramer [1979]

                          

Screenplay                    Robert Benton

Based on                       ‘Kramer vs Kramer’ by Avery Corman

Director                         Robert Benton

Cinematography            Néstor Almendros

Music                            Erma E. Levin

Leads                            Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry

Production                     Colombia Pictures, Stanley Jaffe Production

IMDb                                 7.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes                88%

Choose a side. That’s what Benton makes you do once Joanna Kramer (Streep) returns from ‘finding herself’. You find yourself rather conflicted about who is in the right and who is in the wrong. Ted Kramer (Hoffman) seems to be the obvious choice, however, during the custody trial over their son Billy (Henry), we are forced to remember that the brief workaholic side to Ted which we saw at the start of the film, had been happening for years. That didn’t make it ok for Joanna to go AWOL, in fact I found it unlikely she would be granted custody of a child she had walked away from so easily. There are good comments on gender equality from both sides of the argument here – for example Ted’s impassioned speech about why a mother is assumed automatically to be more trustworthy in the raising of a child works both ways. I don’t want to get into discussions on misogyny for now, it’s a Friday night and I’m not in the mood. I also would rather discuss it in relation to movies as a whole, not just this one. The acting is up there with the best of Hoffman’s work I would say. You can tell that Benton just let him and young Justin Henry improvise on occasion, creating realistic father-son moments. Streep doesn’t have too much screen time and yet shows why she one of the best actors in history. In real life Hoffman was going through a messy divorce himself, and Streep’s lover John Cazale (The Deer Hunter, Dog Day Afternoon (Day 102), The Godfather) had just died of cancer, perhaps the reason why both actors performed so admirably and picked up Academy Awards. Justin Henry is still the youngest Academy Award nominee ever in any category at only eight-years-old for his role in this. It’s a classic, but there was something missing for me, and was a bit too ‘feel-good’ for my liking.

Acting                           4 / 4

Writing                          3 / 4

Cinematography            3 / 4

Music                            2 / 4

HWF rating               3 / 4