Movie Stats:
Released 1979 (USA)
American, in English
Director – Robert Benton
Stars – Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep
Plot Summary
When Ted Kramer’s (Hoffman) unhappy wife Joanna (Streep)
abandons him and their young son Billy (Justin Henry), Ted soon grows into the
role of a caring father. After a year and a half, however, Joanna returns and
demands custody of their son. A legal battle ensues.
Warnings:
Mild blue language; female nudity that is extremely
gratuitous (seriously, there’s no point to the nude scene in this movie other
than to have a nude scene).
Bad Stuff:
The manic nature of Ted at the very beginning was a real
turn-off because it reminded me too much of the role that Hoffman played in
Midnight Cowboy. If his character had behaved that way the whole film, I would
have found it unbearable. Luckily, it got better.
The court scenes were so unrealistic as to be laughable. I
know that realistic court scenes would be too boring for cinema, but I’m going
to go ahead and scoff at the idea of witnesses giving heartfelt monologues on
the stand anyway.
This has to be the most civilized custody battle I’ve
ever scene, which made it not especially believable.
Good Stuff:
Loved the progression of Hoffman’s character. It was
extremely well done. It happened in stages, and it wasn’t always easy, and Ted
never became the perfect father or the perfect human being. It just worked.
Also, the scenes where he spent quiet moments with his son, working together as
a team, were beautiful.
Justin Henry, who played Billy, was surprisingly good. I
almost universally loathe child actors (a reflection, perhaps, of my feelings
about children in general), but he did a great job. The scene where he’s
getting stitches had me cringing, even though they didn’t show anything, simply
because of the noises he was making.
I really enjoyed the platonic friendship between Ted and his
neighbor Margaret (Jane Alexander). They didn’t even throw a hint of sexual
attraction in there. You don’t see that very often in movies. It was nice.
The Verdict:
I fully expected to hate it & found myself pleasantly
surprised. This seems like a very timely movie in terms of the issues: a woman
feeling stifled in her marriage & trying to find herself, a man asserting
his right to be the primary parent, divorce, a custody battle, struggling to
balance work life & home life, etc. These issues were hitting people hard
in the 1970s. However, since they continue to resonate today, the movie didn’t
feel dated to me (apart from the fashions & styles, of course).
As with many of these Best Picture winners, this isn’t a
movie you’re likely to sit down to watch over and over again. But it’s
definitely good for at least one viewing, and I can almost guarantee that
you’ll enjoy it.
I give the movie 4 stars.
4 comments:
Yes, I've been meaning to see this. Does it have some styling 70s fashions? Those are often the bonus for me. Sometimes I'm so busy watching the background extras I lose track of the movie.
Can you think of movies with child actors that you DO like? And at what age do they stop being child actors, at least in your book?
I've been thinking about your question. What I've begun to wonder is if it's not child actors I dislike, but the roles they are given to play. It seems like in most movies, young children are there to look cute/say adorable things, tug at heart strings, and/or be complete and utter brats. Perhaps child actors are simply limited, or perhaps directors just think they are.
One of the things I liked about Billy was that his reactions to the situation seemed normal, like how a child would behave. And Justin Henry did a good job of portraying that.
I think that's a valid point. It's also similar to my point about women in movies. They don't often get to strut their stuff.
I've seen good child actors and I've seen so-so child actors. But I can say that about grown up actors too. :-)
I was specifically thinking of Jonah Bobo who was fabulous in Crazy Stupid Love. But he was 13. I think the adolescent child actor is a completely different category.
I agree about adolescent actors. They don't bug me nearly as much child actors. In fact, I think a lot of adolescent actors are really great.
I also concur about a lot of female roles. I often find female characters so annoying that I'm relieved when a movie doesn't have any female characters. How sad is that?
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