kramer vs. kramer

jeez louiiiise, Method acting. via Keyframe

Everyone’s talking about Michael Schulman‘s piece for the new issue of Vanity Fair, “How Meryl Streep Battled Dustin Hoffman, Retooled Her Role, and Won Her First Oscar.” And little wonder: “Then something happened that shocked not just Meryl but everyone on set. Right before their entrance, Dustin slapped her hard across the cheek, leaving a red mark…. Improvising his lines, Dustin delivered a slap of a different sort: outside the elevator, he started taunting Meryl about John Cazale, jabbing her with remarks about his cancer and his death…. They wrapped, and Meryl left the studio in a rage. Day two, and Kramer vs. Kramer was already turning into Streep vs. Hoffman.”

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/meryl-streep-kramer-vs-kramer-oscar

She had read Corman’s novel and found Joanna to be “an ogre, a princess, an ass,” as she put it soon after to American Film.

dunno if the film does much to really counteract this, it seems way more sympathetic to Ted (and by extension a bit regressive), Joanna just seems so monstrous and irresponsible up until the end that the overall film left a bad taste in my mouth.

i watched it as a young boy, and so with little understanding of gender dynamics, and it seemed fairly clear to me that ted is the good guy and joanna the baddie, and i was really happy at the ending because the boy ends up staying with ted.

The film was manipulative then and is now in a way that overshadows the keen sense of character that Hoffman had. And I don't think Streep could have gathered any more empathy than was written for the character.

Rewatched this for the first time in years last night. Hoffman does a little bit of schtick, but not much, and yes, the film is manipulative into making him the good guy (and the sensitive guy who learns, just like in Tootsie); don't know when the novel came out, but the film feels like they very purposefully took An Unmarried Woman and turned it on its head. If you can live with that, I think it's still compelling. Streep is really good as a complete wreck; Justin Henry is fantastic.

And at least once, really, really funny: "Do you like fried chicken?"