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Kramer Vs. Kramer | 
| Director: Robert Benton
Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry, Howard Duff
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Vid
Category: Video
Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 4100
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0800106032
UPC: 043396600300
EAN: 9780800106034
ASIN: 0800106032
Theatrical Release Date: December 19, 1979
Release Date: September 26, 2000
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Essential Video
Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, Kramer vs. Kramer remains as powerfully moving today as it was when released in 1979, simply because its drama will remain relevant for couples of any generation. Adapted by director Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, this is perhaps the finest, most evenly balanced film ever made about the failure of marriage and the tumultuous shift of parental roles. It begins when Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) bluntly informs her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman) that she's leaving him, just as his advertising career is advancing and demanding most of his waking hours. Self-involvement is just one of the film's underlying themes, along with the search for identity that prompts Joanna to leave Ted with their first-grade son (Justin Henry), who now finds himself living with a workaholic parent he barely knows. Juggling his domestic challenge with professional deadlines, Ted is further pressured when his wife files for custody of their son. This legal battle forms the dramatic spine of the film, but its power is derived from Benton's flawlessly observant script and the superlative performances of his entire cast. Because Benton refuses to assign blame and deals fairly with both sides of a devastating dilemma, the film arrives at equal levels of pain, growth, and integrity under emotionally stressful circumstances. That gives virtually every scene the unmistakable ring of truth--a quality of dramatic honestly that makes Kramer vs. Kramer not merely a classic tearjerker, but one of the finest American dramas of its decade. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
 Cry More vs. Cry More May 25, 2004
MAD MAGAZINE named the movie "Cry More Vs.Cry More" for the parody of the film. KRAMER VS. KRAMER is an effective tearjerker with somewhat of an unrealistic ending. The movie is manipulative but somehow manages to be a riveting divorce drama with clearly defined characters to care about. The standout character being young Justin Henry as Billy Kramer. The other issue here is the telling of a single father's trials and tribulations of suddenly taking on the responsibilities of single handedly rearing a child. The film shows the evolution Ted Kramer (Hoffman) with the relationship of his son and the definition of being a father. The film seems to be in two parts. The first being the set up of establishing the relationship of father and son, the second part is when the mother Joanna Kramer(Streep) "finds herself" (remember that catch phrase from the 70's?), has established a career, and decides that she wants her son back. She suddenly appears out of nowhere to get her son back. This is when the movie becomes a cut-throat custody courtroom battle between the Kramer's. Actor Howard Duff is excellent as Ted Kramer's/Hoffman lawyer John Shaunessy. The other standout performance is Jane Alexander as best friend (Margaret Phelps) to both the Kramer's who suddenly finds herself torn between the two sides of the custody battle. Overall, a movie that has captured a moment of time, showing some conventional if not sugarcoated problems of a bitter divorce. The film is notched up a bit because of the casting and oustanding performances of the leads.
Scenes From A Divorce March 8, 2004
Alex Udvary (chicago, il United States)
Those's who are familiar with the Ingmar Bergman film "Scenes From A Marriage" might get a kick out of my heading for the movie and my think of it as nothing more than a silly pun, but think about it. "Kramer vs Kramer" does for divorce what Bergman's film did for marriage. Okay, I'll stop the jokes. Robert Benton's "Kramer vs Kramer" is really a well made, powerful, semi-heart tugging movie. Based on a novel written by Avery Corman, Benton (who wrote the film also) takes a clos look at what happens when a couple gets a divorce when children are involved. "Kramer ect" offers us a twist. Here it is the woman (Meryl Streep) who leaves her husband (Hoffman) and now Hoffman has to raise their 6 year old son by himself. Yes, the film goes for some quirky, funny shots in the beginning, and it's done with some realism, we might expect the characters to behave this way, but then the film goes for more heart. As much as I enjoyed this film, I do think it's odd that this won the Oscar for best picture. 1979 had some strong movies, "Apocalypse Now", "All That Jazz", and although it wasn't nominated for best picture that year, one of my favorites Woody Allen's "Manhattan". But still "Kramer vs Kramer" was nominated for 9 Oscars, and walked away with 5. Also, something I want to point it is the nominated camerawork by Nestor Almendros, who many know for his work with Francois Truffaut and Eric Rohmer. Bottom-line: Heartfelt, powerful and sometimes realistic look at what happens during a divorce. Very good performances by Hoffman and Streep (both won Oscars) and strong directing by Benton.
 1 star NOT for the movie February 29, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Is there any chance the movie studio will get a clue and reduce their list price?! DVDs are cheaper now...wake up already. This DVD has been out going on 3 years now. It's time to slash and burn the prices.
 Beautiful casting, beautiful acting, beautiful movie November 30, 2003
Peggy Vincent (Oakland, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep don't make a single mistake in this movie, and neither does Justin Henry, the kid actor who plays the child torn between two parents. Hoffman plays a workaholic dad who is stunned (when his wife abruptly leaves him) to find himself the single parent of a child he barely knows. The film is beautifully book-ended between two telling events: getting breakfast for himself and his son at the beginning, we watch Hoffman hilariously, angrily, and ineptly screw it up, while by the end father and son have a quiet dance of cooperation and guy-ness all worked out. There are so many similar pivotal moments, such as a playground accident that sends Hoffman, child in arms, racing the streets of NY to the emergency room. Hoffman finds he cannot balance the demands of parenting with the high-pressure demands of his job in the advertising industry - and he chooses parenting. Then, like multitudes of single MOMS before him, he discovers how difficult it is to make ends meet.
Meanwhile, his wife, freed of parenting responsibilities, is on her own trajectory, is 'finding herself,' and becomes financially successful. Also, she watches how husband and son are doing, spying on them from a distance, and we sense her loss and her pain - yet also her pride that Ted (husband/father) is actually coming thru for the kid.
Then comes the custody battle at the end, the wrenching scene in the elevator - and Streep's final comments to the judge. Wow. Kramer vs. Kramer won 5 Academy Awards. Filmed in 1979, it is just as relevant today as it was 25 yrs ago.
People who declare this film is one of the finest movies ever made aren't lying.
HOFFMAN ON THE ROCKS March 10, 2003
Nix Pix (Windsor, Ontario, Canada)
A harried husband (Dustin Hoffman) finds out what it's like to raise a child as a single parent after his wife (Meryl Streep) just packs up and walks out on their lives. Today, divorce stories are a dime a dozen but when "Kramer Vs. Kramer" first hit the scene on the cusp of the 1980's it was a genuine revelation. And although we've seen the story told and retold countless times since, nothing quite captures the immediacy and sheer energy of this ground-breaking American classic.
Columbia TriStar has given us the film in a pretty good looking transfer. Yes, colors are dated but they are incredibly well balanced and, at times, even vibrant. Some minor aliasing in fine details but nothing to distract. The audio has been nicely restored. There's a documentary that's pretty informative, albeit short. BOTTOM LINE: YES - A KEEPER!
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