Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

a film by Robert Benton

Kramer vs. Kramer is heart-breaking movie. This story of separation and love is really vivid and emotional thanks to the great performances of Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman. They separate the film from the melodrama and construct a movie in which feelings and actions develop spontaneously in the screen delivering emotions with great humanity.

This is the story of Joanna, a woman who decides to leave her workaholic husband and their young kid to run away from the frustrations of her marriage. Alone, the father has to raise the kid and cope with the absence of his wife. In this movie the meaning of fatherhood and motherhood are revisited, as well as the roles of men and women in modern families. And as melodramatic as it may sound it is a fresh, moving and entertaining story.

This movie also has a couple of sequences that I consider memorable. The court scenes are unbearably painful, and so emotional that despite the fact they are excellent, I won't count as my favorites. I prefer the long traveling made by a running Dustin Hoffman (he is good running, like in The Graduate) and the really funny scene of Phyllis walk of shame. I love her glasses too.