Plot

After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy. When he has learned to adjust his life to these new responsibilities, Joanna resurfaces and wants Billy back. Ted, however, refuses to give him up, so they go to court to fight for the custody of their son.—Leon Wolters <wolters@strw.LeidenUniv.nl>

Up and coming New York advertising executive Ted Kramer believes that his role and responsibility to his family is to be the household breadwinner, which means a focus on career. Joanna Kramer, his wife of eight years, is relegated to role of housewife and mother to their five and a half year old son, Billy Kramer, as Ted doesn't want her to work outside the house. As such, Joanna, on the encouragement of Margaret Phelps, a recent divorcée in their apartment building and one of Joanna's primary confidantes, decides to abandon the marriage, and leave Billy with Ted, as she feels she can't properly take care of Billy in her current fragile mental state. Ted believes that Joanna is solely going through a phase, and that she will return home in a day or two, which she doesn't. So, Ted has to make some major adjustments in his life. Beyond the time of fitting in Joanna's duties into his work schedule, Ted is ill equipped to take care of the household chores and be Billy's sole caregiver, which is made more difficult as Billy has his own ill feelings about the entire situation. Ted and Billy go through a difficult period in learning how to deal with each other as father and son, but the relationship eventually blossoms into a truly loving one, with Margaret being one of their biggest supporters. Two issues threaten Ted and Billy's new-found familial happiness: the negative effect his new time priority with Billy has on maintaining a productive work life, and the arrival fifteen months later of a newly confidant Joanna, who wants custody of her son.—Huggo

On the same day Manhattan advertising executive Ted Kramer lands the biggest account of his career, he learns that his wife, Joanna, is leaving him and their young son, Billy. Forced to raise his son alone, Ted loses his job but gains a stronger relationship with the child with the help of another single parent, Margaret. When Joanna returns to claim custody of Billy, the ensuing court battle takes a toll on everyone concerned.—Jwelch5742

Out of the blue, after eight years, the workaholic, up-and-coming advertising executive, Ted Kramer, finds himself with his back to the wall when his emotionally fatigued wife, Joanna, announces that she wants out of the marriage. As a result, left all alone to care for their innocent six-year-old son, Billy, Ted must reinvent the father-and-son relationship, and make up for lost time. Suddenly, being a single parent becomes a daunting task, and as if that weren't enough, after eighteen long and challenging months, Joanna re-enters Ted's life, bent on claiming custody of her little boy. But, Ted will never let go of his son. Can there be any winners when a family is in ruins?—Nick Riganas

Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) is a workaholic advertising executive who has just been assigned a new and very important account (& named as the creative director of the agency). Ted arrives home and shares the good news with his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) only to find that she is leaving him and their son Billy (Justin Henry). She takes $2000 from their savings account as that's what she had when they first got married. Ted tries to stop her but Joanna is determined to leave. Ted and Billy initially resent one another as Ted no longer has time to carry his increased workload, and Billy misses his mother's love and attention. Ted doesn't know the house schedules, like Billy's school times, meals etc etc. He burns his hands and is hyper the first time he cooks breakfast for Billy and gets him ready for school.

At work, Ted's boss Jim O'Connor (George Coe) is sympathetic but wants Ted to focus on the new airlines account 24*7. Ted assures that he is on top of his work. Ted blows his lid when Billy spills juice all over his work at home. They go grocery shopping together. Ted takes down all photos of him and Joanna together (he later allows one photo in Billy's room). Billy gets upset when Ted is late picking him up from a birthday party. After months of unrest, Ted and Billy learn to cope, and gradually bond as father and son. Ted disciplines Billy by putting a clamp on the number of hrs of TV viewing and eating proper food. He wont put up with Billy's tantrums. Ted is frequently late for important meetings at work an his clients are upset. Jim tells Ted that he is getting very nervous as its been 8 months now and the situation seems to be getting worse, rather than better. Ted attends all of Billy's functions in school, including his performances. he has sex with a co-worker Phyllis Bernard (JoBeth Williams) from office.

Ted befriends his neighbor Margaret (Jane Alexander), who had initially counseled Joanna to leave Ted if she was that unhappy. Margaret is a fellow single parent, and she and Ted become kindred spirits. Margaret doesn't intend to get married again. One day, as the two sit in the park watching their children play, Billy accidentally falls off the jungle gym, severely cutting his face. Ted sprints several blocks through oncoming traffic carrying Billy to the hospital, where he comforts his son during treatment (10 stitches).

Fifteen months after she walked out, Joanna returns to New York from California to claim Billy, and a custody battle ensues. The lawyer John Shaunessy (Howard Duff) charges Ted $15K, and more on appeal. Ted is removed by Jim from the airlines account and fires him from his job. Shaunessy asks Ted to get any job before the hearing as it wont look good in court if Ted has no job. He gets a job of a junior copywriter that pays $5K less. During the custody hearing, both Ted and Joanna are unprepared for the brutal character assassinations that their lawyers unleash on the other. Ted didn't allow Joanna to work during their marriage. Her self esteem was shot to pieces and it took time for her to realize that there was nothing wrong with her. Shaunessy attacks Joanna on her sexual history, including the fact that she has a lover now. He also brands Joanna as flighty and a failure at all things she attempted. Margaret is forced to testify that she had advised an unhappy Joanna to leave Ted, though she also attempts to tell Joanna on the stand that her husband has profoundly changed. Eventually, the damaging facts that Ted was fired because of his conflicting parental responsibilities which forced him to take a lower-paying job come out in court, as do the details of Billy's accident. His original salary was noted as "$33,000 a year", whereas he was forced to admit that his new salary was only "$28,200", after Joanna has told the court that her "present salary" as a sportswear designer is "$31,000 a year".

The court awards custody to Joanna, a decision mostly based on the tender years doctrine. Devastated with the decision, Ted discusses appealing the case, but his lawyer warns that an appeal would be too expensive and Billy himself would have to take the stand in the resulting trial. Ted cannot bear the thought of submitting his child to such an ordeal, and decides not to contest custody.

On the morning that Billy is to move in with Joanna, Ted and Billy make breakfast together, mirroring the meal that Ted tried to cook the first morning after Joanna left. They share a tender hug, knowing that this is their last daily breakfast together. Joanna calls on the intercom, asking Ted to come down to the lobby alone. When he arrives she tells Ted how much she loves and wants Billy, but she knows that his true home is with Ted, and therefore will not take custody of him. She asks Ted if she can go up and see Billy, and Ted says that would be fine. As they are about to enter the elevator together, Ted tells Joanna that he will stay downstairs to allow Joanna to see Billy in private. After she enters the elevator, Joanna wipes tears from her face and asks her former husband "How do I look?" As the elevator doors start to close on Joanna, Ted answers, "Terrific."