Kramer vs. Kramer

As a child of divorce I’ve lived through like every scene in this movie. The Joanna character is obviously problematic, but the Streep performance almost cancels it out. The fucking donut breakfast is like every other Saturday of my life. And with the tv dinners. My dad is basically an unreformed Ted, but this movie makes me think about how brilliant the visitation schedule is for clueless dads. You mean the dad gets weekends, holidays/vacations, and a weeknight dinner, which will almost certainly consist of fast food, video games, and no school. Obviously I’m gonna take dad’s side! Then you have mom who has to make you do chores and your homework and go to bed at a reasonable time (booooo!) who as a middle schooler I’m obviously gonna think is evil. My mom also had the sort of thing where she found someone else quick so the family dynamic was restored, whereas when I’m at my dads it’s just me and the chuds on the worst benders of our lives. But then you grow up and realize dad was compensating and mom was parenting, which this movie ultimately cannot capture(mostly by choice) Ted has a true redemption, and Joanna is written as a cartoony villain. And then in the courtroom Ted loses custody because he’s a present father? That’s really my only issue with the movie. And Ted should’ve cracked the neighbor. Super weird to watch a movie that so accurately captures the 70s/80s like divorce great awakening simultaneously be timeless in its portrayal of chud dads.