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Kramer vs. Kramer
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Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 courtroom drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son. It received the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1979.
Music for the film features New York guitarist Frederic Hand.
Kramer (Dustin Hoffman), a workaholic advertising executive is just given his agency's biggest new account.
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Encyclopedia
Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 courtroom drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son. It received the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1979.
Music for the film features New York guitarist Frederic Hand.
Plot
Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman), a workaholic advertising executive is just given his agency's biggest new account. After spending the evening drinking with his boss, he returns home to find his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) in the process of leaving him.
Ted is left to raise their son Billy (Justin Henry) by himself. Ted and Billy resent each other as Ted no longer has time to carry his increased workload, and Billy misses the love and attention he received from his mother. After many months of unrest, Ted and Billy begin to cope with the situation and eventually grow to deeply love and care for one another.
Ted befriends his neighbor Margaret (Jane Alexander), who at the beginning had counseled Joanna to leave. Margaret is a fellow single parent and the two become kindred spirits. One day as the two sit in the park watching their children play, Billy falls off the jungle gym and severely cuts his face. Picking him up, Ted sprints several blocks through oncoming traffic to the hospital.
About a year after she walked out, Joanna returns to New York in order to claim Billy, and a custody battle ensues. During the custody hearing, both Ted and Joanna are unprepared for the brutal character assassinations that their lawyers unleash on the other. Eventually, the courts awards custody to Joanna.
On the morning that Billy is to move in with Joanna, she comes to the apartment and tells Ted that, while she loves Billy and wants him with her, she knows that his true home is with Ted. The movie ends with the elevator doors closing on the emotional Joanna, as she heads upstairs to talk to Billy.
Cultural impact
Kramer vs. Kramer reflected a cultural shift which occurred during the 1970s and the period of second-wave feminism, when ideas about "motherhood" and "fatherhood" were changing. The film was widely praised for the way in which it gave equal weight and importance to both Joanna and Ted's points of view .
The film also addresses the predisposition to awarding child custody to the mother.
Cast and Crew
Awards
1979 Academy Awards (USA)
Wins
Nominations
David di Donatello (Italy)
Wins
Other uses
"Kramer vs Kramer" was also sometimes used in reference to the strained relationship between sitcom actor Michael Richards (who played Cosmo Kramer on the popular show Seinfeld) and Kenny Kramer, the real-life inspiration for the character. Kenny Kramer starred in a documentary named for the film, Kramer vs Kramer: Kenny to Cosmo, on the DVD release of the series.
External links
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