Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Instant Favorite.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry and Jane Alexander star in this 1979 drama based on the novel. Hoffman (Rain Man) plays Ted Kramer, a New York dad who fights for custody of his young son, Billy (Henry) after his wife, Joanna (Streep) leaves them. Alexander plays Margaret, Ted's friend & neighbor. Hoffman is terrific in this, I think it's one of his best performances and Streep and the rest of the cast are good as well. I recommend this good 70's drama.

l watched the first part of this movie in 1987 and turn off the TV after around 30 minutes...too much talking,in fact drama wasn't my favorite kind of movie at all...but now as collector l must to have this movie in my racks So l decided to watch it one more time and today the movie sounds me really fantastic...this kind of drama is always a heavy matters to put on screen mainly when the woman left the house having the kid behind,when the remorse mother appear asking the kid back the case end up in a court house a powerful drama indeed,however l think that Apocalypse Now is more superior than Kramer vs. Kramer and deserved won the Oscar but who cares...the movie is really good but l find it overrated even Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep having a great performance.

Satisfied to have finally seen this film, some 37 years after it first came out. Viewing the film fills in a gap of my pop-cultural understanding at least. The content, however, is extremely dated, reflecting the fact that it is a product of its time. Not at all surprising to hear that the film was based on a reactionary, anti- feminist, quasi-misogynist novel, which is made manifest by the total subordination of Streep's Joanna to Hoffman's Ted. Don't be fooled by the false hype of two great actors going head-to-head. The very, very young Streep is hardly in the film at all, and the character Joanna's motivations are only thinly alluded to, never fully explained. This is strictly a vehicle for Hoffman to project as hot-shot advertising executive transitioning into a put-upon father. For his part, with the exception of Marathon Man and Tootsie, Hoffman never fails to remind me how much I'd really rather be watching Al Pacino in the same role. The supposedly climactic court scene is so cheesily melodramatic and utterly false. that it can only be viewed as some misogynist wet dream, complete with ridiculous shouting and badgering by conspicuously male divorce lawyers. Joanna's speech, supposedly penned in a fit of brilliance by Streep herself, is cringe-inducingly nebulous. Streep can be forgiven, she was only 27. The director/"screedwriter" Robert Benton shouldn't be let off so easily, however. In the end, this is fairly typical 70s schlock that turned out to be quite profitable. Good for the business of "movies", bad for the art of cinema. My curiosity was more killed than satisfied.

I've gotta say, in a movie that features Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep (both offering high-calibre stuff), it's Justin Henry that really leaves an indelible mark on "Kramer vs. Kramer". You conjure a certain idea when you hear what this movie's about (and that's true, those are some unpleasant divorce proceedings in the courtroom, to be sure), but there's a real emotional core to this that you just don't expect. It's not bad enough that Hoffman's been left to father his child alone, but Meryl Streep has to come back for custody. Where this movie really shines is in the scenes with Hoffman and his son (Henry), both in bonding and saying goodbye. It's a beautiful relationship. Streep gets the shaft because of this, but she's still not half-assing it.This is a brutal movie because of the pervading sense that the wound always feels fresh. And you never see the emotional hay-makers coming. But the sentiment isn't artificial, and there are no overwrought theatrics. That's what I love about this; there's genuine heart to all of it. And I defy anyone to keep from welling up during father and son's dialogue scene in the closing minutes ("You're not gonna kiss me good night anymore, are you, Dad?").8/10