Review of Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) by Eric J — 09 May 2009

RATING (0 to ****): ****.

Known today as "that damned film that beat 'Apocalypse Now'", "Kramer vs. Kramer" regardless has many of its own merits. A character drama told in vignettes, "Kramer" is an appropriately subdued film that could have easily been gooey melodrama fluff. With the help of director Robert Benton, who keeps the musical score at a bare minimum, the film and its characters are allowed to speak for themselves. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep almost don't deserve their Oscars due to the naturalism of the performances.

Ted Kramer (Hoffman), at first a workaholic who pays no attention to his family, doesn't take long after his wife Joanna (Streep) literally walks out on them to become a good parent to their son Billy. While most stories by necessity tell you where they're going right away, that isn't so with "Kramer vs. Kramer", which can be split into a number of arcs. It isn't until it's about to end where you realize how much you've fallen in love with Ted and Billy, that you truly find out how harrowing fixing French toast can be. Benton is a true follower of the "start late, end early" mentality of scenes and storytelling. Every scene of "Kramer vs. Kramer" is far less about the words than their implications, with numerous drama equivalents of punch-lines.

What he chooses to be the last moment, as Ted would put it, is terrific.

MPAA: PG (thematic elements, brief nudity, a disturbing medical procedure and language).

Runtime: 1 hour, 44 minutes (102 minutes of "real movie").