Rent Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Above average for 1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer review by Swambi

The production is not quite up to modern standards, but definitely better than average for 1979, and is still enjoyable if you like films involving human interaction (rather than adventures, shooting etc) - and don't mind dated haircuts! There are a lot of scenes of subtle humour as Ted struggles to look after his son and cope at work on his own. There is also an unintentionally amuzing section where Ted runs his son to the hospital, involving far more risk of death and injury as he hurtles across moving traffic. There is an element of redemption, as he realises that there is more to life than work - even if he suffers for it.

However, I felt some key elements of the plot weren't developed. It was never clear why Joanna left so suddenly, nor why reconciliation never seemed to be on the cards - although I suppose this would have brought the whole matrimonial dispute to a stop, and given a shorter film!

Worthy of all the plaudits - Kramer vs. Kramer review by CP Customer

Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep show their class in this heartfelt journey through a custody battle and a fathers relationship with his son and estranged wife. Their characters are certainly flawed, but this gives it a neccesary realism

Custody, Coffee, and Cold Reality - Kramer vs. Kramer review by griggs

Divorce on film is rarely this raw—or this quietly revolutionary. Kramer vs. Kramer takes what could’ve been a courtroom melodrama and turns it into something far more human: a portrait of a man learning, too late, what it means to be a parent.

Dustin Hoffman plays Ted as a career-first dad forced to grow up fast when his wife Joanna (a superbly restrained Meryl Streep) walks out. What follows isn’t just legal wrangling—it’s spilled milk, bedtime negotiations, and the kind of emotional stumbles that feel painfully real.

The film’s brilliance is in the details. A burnt French toast scene says more about love and labour than a dozen monologues. It doesn’t take sides, either. It just watches, patiently, as two people try to do right by their son in the messiest way possible.

Rarely has domestic upheaval been rendered with such empathy—or so little sentimentality. It earns every emotional beat by refusing to simplify the fight. Or the love.