Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

I'm going to start this one off by saying this; KvK is not a better "film" than Apocalypse Now, but it did earn and deserve it's "Best Picture" win at the Academy Awards. It's not very often i say that. Normally to me the best is THE BEST. Now on to bigger and better things. First off (and i may take some crap for this), this is Dustin Hoffman's greatest role. Hoffman is one of the more outstanding actor's in film history. With roles like Ratso in Midnight Cowboy and Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man one may ask how the movie where he plays an everyday father trumps those. I'll tell you. By his acting alone, he will bring you to tears. There is this scene in the first ten minutes of the movie in which Hoffman's character is acting very nervously and he is raising his voice, yet, it is when his charctor calms down and mutters the words, "mhmm, how much courage does it take to walk out on your kid" that not only sends chills up your spine but sends the message that this is not ordinary role. This movie is superb for many reasons. Not only is Hoffman's acting incredible but as always Meryl Streep (greatest actress of all time) will send you in to tears with her stellar under 20 min performance. Even with her limited screen time, the audience can feel the presence of Joanne the entire running time just from that opening scene. It is about a Woman (Streep) who decides to leave her son and her husband (Hoffman) to go find herself. We are introduced to Hoffman's charcter as a work-a-holic who seems to have very little involvement in his son's life. A few scene and a bunch of tears later Hoffman is a changed man and everything ends up the way you would think it would. Or did it? I love this film because it portrays a very real scenerio of a (non-adulterous) divorce. This movie will make you sad, but not because it shoved sadness down your throat like some movies (any Will Smith drama), or because the character you fell in love with died, or because it is this love story the and dumb couple broke up. It is sad because it is real people, in real life, making real decisions and it is nothing more and nothing less. That is why this film is so beautiful. I know i make it sound super sad, but it has it's humorous parts and it's fun parts between the father and son. The only true downfall i would see in this movie is that it is very hard to watch and it is not what we call "fast-paced entertainment". Although humorous in parts do not get me wrong, it is sad and it is a slow paced film, so you kind of have to been in that particular mood. If you are, i guarantee you will be blown away.

9.1/10

-Zack Tinsley