MOVIE REVIEW: LITTLE BOY IN 'KRAMER' SUPERB ACTOR

Movie poster

Superb acting by seven-year-old Justin Henry is one of the reasons why young people will enjoy "Kramer vs. Kramer," a movie about a divorce custody battle and the little boy -- Billy Kramer -- caught in the middle of it. When Billy's mad, viewers are mad. When he’s sad, viewers are sad. Justin is an inspirational actor.

Billy's mother Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep), abandons him. He's left behind to live with his workaholic father, Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman), in their New York City home. Mr. Kramer yells at his wife a lot, and she leaves her family so she can be more independent. Unlike many of today's fathers, Mr. Kramer isn't very involved in his son's life. The movie is intriguing partly because the audience can't figure out who to dislike more -- the mom or the dad.

Trying to make his son happy and keep his job, Mr. Kramer has to learn how to take care of his six-year-old son by himself. Just when he's figured out how to make them both happy, Mrs. Kramer comes back into their lives and takes Mr. Kramer to court to decide who gets custody of their son. Will Ted get to keep his son, or will she take him away from him forever?

At the beginning, I found "Kramer vs. Kramer" -- which won five Academy Awards -- hard to follow, but it slides into a heartfelt, feel-good movie that you just have to watch until the end.

Copyright 2008 Y-Press