Review of Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) by Kevin D — 23 Jun 2010

Before today, I thought one of the biggest mistakes in Oscar history was giving 1979's Best Picture award to Kramer vs. Kramer instead of Apocalypse Now. Well I finished watching Kramer vs. Kramer, oh let's say about 42 minutes ago (fun fact: I actually started watching this movie this past July. I got through approximately 20 seconds of the movie (I was watching it on my laptop from the Netflix website), but I stopped watching because it was around 1 in the morning and my mom was screaming at my sister for some reason, so I thought it would be best for me to go to bed so I wouldn't get screamed at next.) and after completing the film, I shockingly have to say that the Academy made the right choice in 1979.

As difficult as it is for me to say this (I love Apocalypse Now), Kramer vs. Kramer is the better film. The reason for this film's sheer and utter brilliance is the pure cut and dry (I'm pretty sure I've heard people use the term "cut and dry" before. I'm not really sure what it means, but it seems like it would make sense in this context.) acting.

Dustin Hoffman is one of my top 5 favorite actors (maybe even one of my top 5 favorite people) and his win for Best Actor in a leading role was well deserved.

In this film, Hoffman looks like a combination of Ray Romano and Louisville mens basketball head coach Rick Pitino (about 9 years ago I was watching one of the local news stations on a Sunday night and they had their weekly sports special on at around 11:30 at night. That particular program had a poll question asking the viewers if they believed Rick Pitino should remain as head coach of the Boston Celtics. I called in and told the person that picked up that he should remain as head coach. My answer was out of sympathy and also I thought Pitino was a nice guy. Pitino unfortunately was (and is) a college coach. He couldn't adjust to the professional game (score as many points as possible and play no defense), like several other successful college coaches (Pete Carrol made a big mistake by deciding to coach the Seahawks.). After the 2000-01 NBA season, Pitino returned to college to coach Louisville. During his tenure with the Cardinals, Pitino has taken Louisville to one final four, two elite eights, and they beat the top 5 ranked Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome over the weekend.).

Hoffman truly delivered a tour-de force performance here. He played quite a sympathetic character that is easy to relate to. As a viewer, I could feel and see the stress Hoffman was displaying. It was an absolute pleasure watching Hoffman act here.

Meryl Streep (she's one of those people that always looks the same, no matter how many years go by, much like St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.), fresh off of her Oscar nominated performance for The Deer Hunter (I got a little excited earlier today. On my news feed I saw that somebody became a fan of what I at first perceived to be "The Deer Hunter", obviously referring to the Best Picture winning film from 1978, starring my boy John Cazale (the Robert Horry of movies). I was happy because I was thinking, "Yes, finally a good fan page. This is something that I can actually "become a fan" of, unlike those lame fan pages like "Become a fan if you want this to be your room."" To my disappointment, the fan page for "The Deer Hunter" was actually for a local band called "The Dear Hunter" ("Dear", as in "Dear John")) delivered a well deserved Academy Award winning performance here.

It's a supporting role, but it's very effective. She has a few powerful monologues that are emotional and the nuances of her character were brilliant. I admired the amazing lead performances in this movie.

I even have to give props to the actor who played the kid (it turns out the kid in this movie is a business mogul now and a few years ago he won something like $30,000 on the World Series of Poker.). The kid, Justin Henry, still remains the youngest Oscar nominee of all time. His performance required some intense and emotional scenes and he really hit it out of the park.

The divorce theme of this movie may be something common nowadays, but I found it powerful nonetheless. The film did not try to get the crowd to support either of the parents. They both had their strengths and flaws, like all people. A bad version of this movie would have made it obvious that Hoffman was the good guy and the parent to root for, but this film took no sides. It remained neutral and as the viewer,.

I could have seen the kid going to either parent. This film was obviously trying to show the ugliness of divorce and how it can be just as hurtful (if not, even more hurtful) on parents than children. In divorce, there are no winners and this film succeeded in executing that point.

The film also displayed how some people place their own personal interests and careers over their children. An interesting point about that particular issue was raised during the brilliant courtroom scene. That brings me to something else, the writing in this film was off the walls. It's such a smart film that covers every possible angle in a divorce and that's all thanks to the well-written screenplay.

Now that I've seen the other major competitor in the 1979 Best Picture race, I can say with confidence that the best film (Kramer vs. Kramer) won.