Kramer vs. Kramer

UPC: 043396295308

Studio: Sony Pictures

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language]

Summary: 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. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Picture – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Actor – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Director – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null Best Supporting Actress – null Best Supporting Actress – null New Star of the Year - Male – null Best Director – null Best Screenplay – null Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Supporting Actress – National Board of Review Best Picture – New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor – New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actress – New York Film Critics Circle Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association New Star of the Year - Male – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Supporting Actress – National Society of Film Critics Best Director – National Society of Film Critics Best Actor – National Society of Film Critics

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

Kramer vs. Kramer

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 02/17/2009

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 105 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Portuguese,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish,Portuguese

Derek Armstrong

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. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Joe Seneca  Actor 
Ellen Parker  Actor 
David Golden  Actor 
Nicholas Hormann  Actor 
David Gilbert  Actor 
Shelby Brammer  Actor 
Stanley Jaffe  Producer 
John Kander  Composer (Music Score) 
Robert Benton  Director 
Robert Benton  Screenwriter 
Dustin Hoffman  Actor 
Meryl Streep  Actor 
Justin Henry  Actor 
Jane Alexander  Actor 
Howard Duff  Actor 
JoBeth Williams  Actor 
George Coe  Actor 
Bill Moor  Actor 
Howland Chamberlain  Actor 
Jack Ramage  Actor 
Jess Osuna  Actor 

Country: USA