Perhaps I saw this too late. 30 years too late. I kinda, sorta experienced this in a way, being a child of a 70s divorce. But as a kid, I hardly understood it. Hearing my mom lambast my dad for 30 years since has shed enough light on it, but as a film, I dunno.
The success of this film ($98 million dollar box-office in 1979!!) and the all the major awards is gobbled up, were definitely a sign of its time. A hot-button issue in the late 70s, of Disco Dads ditching their families for a little extended adolescence on the tiled squares. The only nuance here is that the roles are reversed, and it's dad who's left holding the kid. The wife portrayed here is not a partier, but does go the "I need to find myself" route and disappears for a year.
This was my first problem with the film: Streep is barely in it. She bolts for nearly the first hour of the film, not allowing for the title to live up to itself until it's much too late. What follows is a series of vignettes of Hoffman adjusting to the single-dad routine, and the expected chaos it brings. Work-wise, dating-wise, it's all effected. It's during these sequences that Hoffman probably didn't care that Streep was absent, because he's given a tour-de-force playground to carry the film with. Not sure if it was Oscar-worthy, but definitely your typical Hoffman likability.
Streep, on the other hand, doesn't work here. When finally glimpsed, she's staring like a stalker through a restaurant window, and of course, shows up later demanding the kid back. Her lawyer's slimeball tactics make her come off worse because we don't really know what *she* was doing in her year away. Which is another direction the film desperately needed to go into. If you want to contrast the breakdown of family and marriage, we need to see a cause, how both parents cope apart, and finally a resolution, to garner a full understanding of both sides. All we know is that Streep went West and got a therapist. Woooooah.
As far as Henry is concerned, he wasn't staggering, but he delivered. Again, just like his mother, there are moments where we can't stand him, and he loses our sympathy. Fortunately, by the end of the film, he's come to his father's side and we pull for them as a unit, not just for Hoffman. In typical Hollywood fashion, they go for his waterworks to bleed ours, and it'll be effective for some. It didn't get to me, but that might be a testament to director Benton, for not overdoing it. Just the right note was hit with the kid's weepy reactions.
Major demerits for the film's editing, which was often choppy and ill-timed. The fall off the jungle gym and the peeing bits were sloppily constructed. And lest I forget the lack of a musical score. They use the same Italian restaurant cue like three times! And it's massively inappropriate for a film of this nature. You feel like you should ready yourself for some flamenco dancers to enter the frame. Plus the infamous JoBeth Williams moment seemed like a forced laugh that just looked eye-buggingly awkward. Tack on an abrupt ending...the film has its flaws.
I think the biggest would be the story's effectiveness. Even placing myself in a 1979 time-frame didn't help, as this didn't have enough punch for a feature film. Hoffman works, cooks, chats, walks the kid to school, gets a lawyer, on and on. It's all too brisk. Performances save it, yes, from being totally dismissed, but undoubtedly is a film that wouldn't have the same impact today.
The success of this film ($98 million dollar box-office in 1979!!) and the all the major awards is gobbled up, were definitely a sign of its time. A hot-button issue in the late 70s, of Disco Dads ditching their families for a little extended adolescence on the tiled squares. The only nuance here is that the roles are reversed, and it's dad who's left holding the kid. The wife portrayed here is not a partier, but does go the "I need to find myself" route and disappears for a year.
This was my first problem with the film: Streep is barely in it. She bolts for nearly the first hour of the film, not allowing for the title to live up to itself until it's much too late. What follows is a series of vignettes of Hoffman adjusting to the single-dad routine, and the expected chaos it brings. Work-wise, dating-wise, it's all effected. It's during these sequences that Hoffman probably didn't care that Streep was absent, because he's given a tour-de-force playground to carry the film with. Not sure if it was Oscar-worthy, but definitely your typical Hoffman likability.
Streep, on the other hand, doesn't work here. When finally glimpsed, she's staring like a stalker through a restaurant window, and of course, shows up later demanding the kid back. Her lawyer's slimeball tactics make her come off worse because we don't really know what *she* was doing in her year away. Which is another direction the film desperately needed to go into. If you want to contrast the breakdown of family and marriage, we need to see a cause, how both parents cope apart, and finally a resolution, to garner a full understanding of both sides. All we know is that Streep went West and got a therapist. Woooooah.
As far as Henry is concerned, he wasn't staggering, but he delivered. Again, just like his mother, there are moments where we can't stand him, and he loses our sympathy. Fortunately, by the end of the film, he's come to his father's side and we pull for them as a unit, not just for Hoffman. In typical Hollywood fashion, they go for his waterworks to bleed ours, and it'll be effective for some. It didn't get to me, but that might be a testament to director Benton, for not overdoing it. Just the right note was hit with the kid's weepy reactions.
Major demerits for the film's editing, which was often choppy and ill-timed. The fall off the jungle gym and the peeing bits were sloppily constructed. And lest I forget the lack of a musical score. They use the same Italian restaurant cue like three times! And it's massively inappropriate for a film of this nature. You feel like you should ready yourself for some flamenco dancers to enter the frame. Plus the infamous JoBeth Williams moment seemed like a forced laugh that just looked eye-buggingly awkward. Tack on an abrupt ending...the film has its flaws.
I think the biggest would be the story's effectiveness. Even placing myself in a 1979 time-frame didn't help, as this didn't have enough punch for a feature film. Hoffman works, cooks, chats, walks the kid to school, gets a lawyer, on and on. It's all too brisk. Performances save it, yes, from being totally dismissed, but undoubtedly is a film that wouldn't have the same impact today.