Kramer vs. Kramer

Infobox_Film
name = Kramer vs. Kramer


image_size =
caption = original movie poster
director = Robert Benton
producer = Richard Fischoff
Stanley R. Jaffe
writer = Avery Corman (novel)
Robert Benton
narrator =
starring = Meryl Streep
Dustin Hoffman
Justin Henry
Jane Alexander
music = Paul Gemignani
Herb Harris
John Kander
Erma E. Levin
Roy B. Yokelson
Antonio Vivaldi
cinematography = Néstor Almendros
editing = Gerald B. Greenberg
Ray Hubley
Bill Pankow
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|United States December 17, 1979
runtime = 105 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:27688
imdb_id = 0079417

"Kramer vs. Kramer" is a 1979 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), an workaholic advertising executive is just given his agency's biggest new account. After spending the night drinking and carousing with co-workers he returns home to find his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) in the process of leaving him.

Ted is left to raise 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 loss of love and attention he received from his mother. After many months of unrest, Ted and Billy begin 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 counceled 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 severly cuts his face. Picking him up, Ted sprints several blocks through oncoming traffic to the hospital.

Now about a year and a half since she left, 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 assasinations that their lawyers unleash on the other. Enventually, 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 [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19791201/REVIEWS/41004001/1023 :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Kramer vs. Kramer (xhtml) ] ] .

The film also adresses the predisposition to awarding child custody to the mother.

Cast and Crew

Awards

1979 Academy Awards (USA)

Wins

*Best Picture
*Best Director
*Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
*Best Actor in a Leading Role - Dustin Hoffman
*Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Meryl Streep

Nominations

*Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Jane Alexander
*Best Cinematography
*Best Film Editing
*Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Justin Henry. Henry was and is to date the youngest acting Academy Award nominee.

David di Donatello (Italy)

Wins

*Best Foreign Film 1980
*Best Foreign Actor 1980 - Dustin Hoffman

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. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477746/ Kramer vs. Kramer: Kenny to Cosmo (2004) (V) ] ]

The term was also used to refer to Kenny Kramer speaking out against Richards's use of racial epithets at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood on November 17, 2006.Fact|date=December 2007

References

External links

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###@@@KEY@@@###s-ach|awsuccession box
before = "The Deer Hunter
after = "Ordinary People
title = Academy Award for Best Picture
years = 1979|succession box
before = "Midnight Express"
after = "Ordinary People"
title = Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama
years = 1980|