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Product Description
Amazon.com Essential Video
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
Product Description
KRAMER VS. KRAMER
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 0000-00-00
Media Type: DVD
SKU:GMDB2226143
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 0000-00-00
Media Type: DVD
SKU:GMDB2226143
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very special film, even 30+ years later,
By
This review is from: Kramer Vs. Kramer (DVD)
A wonderful, beautifully acted film about the meanings of love,friendship, and above all parenthood. This is the film where Robert Benton's complex humanism really comes to full flower. In a situation that almost demands taking sides ' a sudden divorce leading to an unprepared father taking over childcare only to be challenged for custody when the mother returns 18 months later ' Benton manages to make everyone a complex human being, with strengths and weaknesses, trying their best to do the right thing in a painful, messy situation. Hoffman, who has been brilliant so many times playing characters far from himself is perhaps the most moving he's ever been playing a character that director Benton described as really, honestly playing himself ' perhaps the hardest character of all. Streep takes a woman who could have easily come off as the villain of the piece, and makes you understand her actions - - even abandoning her little boy. Jane Alexander is wonderful and subtle as the slowly developing friend Hoffman makes as a single father, and young Justin Henry is utterly real in a way few child actors are as the 7 year old stuck in the middle. It's also beautifully, if understatedly shot by Nestor Almendros. It's flaws are minor. Some of the supporting roles, while played by terrific character actors, are a bit more one note and characturish than they need be. And some of the courtroom theatrics feel just a tiny bit' well, theatrical. Also, there's a logic point that's always bugged me ' why doesn't Hoffman ' doing quite well on Madison Avenue, hire a part-time housekeeper or nanny to help him from becoming terminally overloaded by the combination of career and single parenthood? Last family politics have changed enough in 31 years that no longer would the climactic court fight stack up quite the same way ' it's no longer a rarity for a man to want custody of his children - but that's not a flaw in the film, just a welcome reminder that some things do get better. And none of the above are enough to detract from the fact that this is storytelling and acting of the highest order. BTW if you're considering it, the blu-ray is a worthwhile upgrade. While the DVDs are fine, the increased depth and texture to both the sound and image add a nice immediacy to the film.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
1 star NOT for the movie,
By A Customer
This review is from: Kramer Vs. Kramer (DVD)
Is there any chance the movie studio will get a clue and reduce their list price?! DVDs are cheaper now...wake up already. This DVD has been out going on 3 years now. It's time to slash and burn the prices.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fine acting .... BUT,
By William (Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kramer Vs. Kramer (DVD)
I had only seen snippets of this movie over the years. I bought it on DVD the other day and the latest version of it includes a 50 min documentary (worth having for that alone). So, I watched the movie, enjoyed the acting, but wondered how it even won a single oscar, let alone five! Ok, this is where it is important to remember that it was made in 1979 where divorce battles were very much highlighted, and women's careers were just starting to take off. The film is also quite short, and I imagine that if it was made today, it would be much longer - particularly the courtroom scenes which are very short in the movie. The title to me indicates a battle between husband and wife, but I found Meryl Streep to be tame and accommodating. I love Dustin Hoffman in any movie, so pleased to own it for that reason - I might add that in parts he reminded me of his role in Tootsie. To finish off, I would have to say that there are some classic scenes in the movie, but I still believe it is a highly over-rated film. People must have been easy to please back in 1979, because this is more of a 'Made-for-TV' movie in my opinion. Only buy it if you see it on sale.
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