Rating of
3.5/4
Sad and touching movie and a Must See!
mdtinney - wrote on 09/09/09
'Kramer vs. Kramer' succeeds so tremendously, not because it shows us something that we've never seen before, but because it shows us life as we know it. The relationship between Ted Kramer and his young son Billy is really nothing remarkable – almost every father in the world shares a similar bond with his own son – and yet, paradoxically, this is what makes the film such a remarkable achievement: it is a window into real-life. That year, though 'Apocalypse Now (1979)' was undoubtedly the more impressive piece of cinema, the Academy decided to award the top honors to a film that was more intimate and closer-to-home {perhaps they were also hesitant, after 'The Deer Hunter (1978),' to reward a war picture two years in a row}. 'Kramer vs. Kramer' received, not only Best Picture, but also a well-deserved Best Actor {Dustin Hoffman's first win}, Best Director {Robert Benton}, Best Adapted Screenplay {Robert Benton} and Best Actress in a Supporting Role {Meryl Streep's first win}. Young Justin Henry, aged 8 years, became the youngest actor in history to be nominated for a competitive Oscar. At the beginning of the film, we are immediately aware that Ted Kramer (Hoffman) is not a perfect husband. His commitment to work means that he has largely neglected his strained wife, Joanna (Streep), and, indeed, he isn't even listening to her when she finally announces her intentions to leave him. With Joanna having departed for California in order to "find herself," Ted is left alone to care for their young son Billy (Justin Henry), during which time he must juggle both his working and family lives. As Ted takes up this mammoth task, we notice that, up to this point, he hasn't been much of a father, either, blundering his attempts to make a simple breakfast and having to ask in which grade-level his son belongs. Eventually, however, though it reflects rather poorly on his career, Ted and Billy formulate a truly touching father-son relationship, and, for the first time, Ted seems satisfied with his family life – until, that is, Joanna returns to claim custody of the child. Perhaps it's just being a male that influenced my emotions, but I absolutely loathed Joanna Kramer. The mere notion of a mother walking out on her son, only to return 15 months later with the expectation of receiving custody, left me absolutely livid, and, were it not for the character's final act, I might even have labelled her as the film's "villain." However, to do so would probably oppose the primary message of the film, which is that both Ted and Joanna are young Billy's parents, and that they must each come to accept this, and to accept that they are both equally responsible for the well-being of their child. The ending of the film, with the elevator door closing to irreparably separate Ted and Joanna once more {destroying any idealistic hopes that the two would get back together} creates an open-endedness to the story that I thought was very suitable. As in real-life, there is no clear resolution to the story, and the future is hopeful but uncertain.
