Kramer vs. Kramer [Blu-ray]

Director: Robert Benton, Stanley R. Jaffe Robert Benton

Overview

Robert Benton's Oscar-winning adaptation of Avery Corman's bestseller takes on contemporary problems of divorce and shifting gender roles, as a jilted husband learns how to be a nurturing father. Manhattan housewife Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) walks out on her workaholic ad man husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman), leaving their young son Billy (Justin Henry) in Ted's less than capable hands. Through trial and error, Ted learns how to take care of Billy, devoting more energy to his family than to his work, and finally losing his high-powered job because of his new priorities. When Joanna returns with her own lucrative job and the intent to take custody of Billy, Ted finds employment that won't interfere with his paternal duties. Even though he proves that he can do it all, Joanna still wins in court. Joanna, however, rethinks her desires when she finally grasps how close father and son have become. Addressing the male side of the self-actualization question, previously explored from the female perspective in such 1970s movies as An Unmarried Woman (1978), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), and The Turning Point (1977), Kramer focuses on Ted's evolution from absent parent to ideal father, as he learns to balance domestic and professional lives in the shifting late-1970s social landscape. Joanna's attempt to achieve the same, however, gets buried; only Streep's sensitive performance prevents Joanna from seeming an unsympathetic harridan. Critics praised the film's realistic depiction of Ted's travails, as well as the three lead actors' work; and audiences, perhaps facing the same questions of divorce and self-realization, turned it into a box-office smash. It went on to win five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/17/2009
UPC:	0043396295308
Original Release:	1979
Rating:	PG
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:45:00
Sales rank:	22,752

Special Features

Documentary: "Finding the Truth: The Making of Kramer vs Kramer"

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dustin Hoffman	Ted Kramer
Meryl Streep	Joanna Kramer
Justin Henry	Billy Kramer
Jane Alexander	Margaret Phelps
Howard Duff	John Shaunessy
George Coe	Jim O'Connor
JoBeth Williams	Phyllis Bernard
Bill Moor	Gressen
Howland Chamberlin	Judge Atkins
Jack Ramage	Spencer
Jess Osuna	Ackerman
Nicholas Hormann	Interviewer
Ellen Parker	Teacher
Shelby Brammer	Ted's Secretary
Carol Nadell	Mrs. Kline
Judith Calder	Receptionist
Peter Lownds	Norman
Kathleen Keller	Waitress
Dan Tyra	Court Clerk
David Golden	Grocer
Petra King	Petie Phelps
Melissa Morell	Kim Phelps
Donald Gantry	Surgeon
Ingeborg Sorenson	Woman at Christmas Party
Iris Alhanti	Partygoer
Richard Barris	Partygoer
Evelyn Hope Bunn	Partygoer
Joann Friedman	Partygoer
Quentin J. Hruska	Partygoer
Joe Seneca	Partygoer
Frederic W. Hand	Street Musician,Street Musician
Scott Kuney	Street Musician
Howland Chamberlain	Judge Atkins
Ingeborg Sørensen	Woman at Christmas Party
Iris Albanti	Partygoer
Sean Albertson	Boy in Hospital
Matteo Cafiso	Schoolmate Boy in Park
Conrad Pomerleau	Waiter
Iris Klein	Partygoer
David Gilbert	Voices
Antonio Vivaldi	Composer
Henry Purcell	Composer
Herb Harris	Composer
John Kander	Composer

Technical Credits

Robert Benton

Avery Corman

Robert Benton	Director,Screenwriter
Stanley R. Jaffe	Producer,Director
Arthur Bloom	Sound Effects
Richard Fischoff	Producer
Stan Bochner	Sound Effects
Jack Jacobsen	Sound Effects
James Perdue	Sound Effects
Sanford Rackow	Sound Effects
Avery Corman	Screenwriter
Stanley Jaffe	Producer
Shirley Rich	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Quite a portrait of modern family dysfunction, Robert Benton's adaptation of the Avery Corman novel hit a nerve with audiences for its frank take on a condition affecting them in increasing numbers: divorce. Nonetheless, it's an uneven film, not in terms of quality, but balance; the film truly belongs to Dustin Hoffman's Ted Kramer, whose travails take center stage as Meryl Streep's Joanna Kramer disappears for large portions of the film. Only a few instances of Ted's short temper fuel any sort of backlash against an otherwise endearing paternal figure, while the audience is given far less cause to sympathize with Joanna, whose reasons for leaving Ted (and more importantly, son Billy) are never explored. It's the strange transfigurations of Ted's life that make Kramer vs. Kramer such an interesting study, such as when a court-ordered deadline forces him into the office of an executive, in the waning hours before the Christmas holiday, to practically beg for a job for which he is overqualified. While there's no reason Ted's story alone should not be the focus, the film's title suggests a war waged with equal ammunition by two wronged parties, and Kramer vs. Kramer is not such a film. The dismissal of Streep's character makes the overly pat ending less forgivable as well. But the actors' note-perfect performances -- and the way the script lays bare the desperate machinations of an increasingly common and normalized legal process -- make this an enduring work.

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