Ted Kramer is a workaholic who spends his life focused on work. When he comes home to deliver the great news to his wife, Joanna, that he was given his companies biggest account, he finds out that she is leaving him. He had spent too much of his life focused on his work. He is left to raise their son Billy alone. He struggles with the tasks that Joanna had previously taken care of, such as grocery shopping and picking his son up from school on time. At first, he and Billy do not get along as Billy wishes for his mother as she gave him much more affection than Ted and Ted is constantly prioritizing work over his family. Eventually, he grows into the father figure role, rather than the role of a workaholic. He quits his high paying job for one then allows him to accommodate his son’s needs. Ted is eventually able to bond with a fellow single parent, Margaret, who has two children of her own. We begin to see the emotional bond strengthening after Billy injures himself and Ted runs him all the way to the hospital to ensure his health and safety. Eventually, Joanna returns home and wishes for her sone back. This causes a custody battle to ensue. Unfortunately, the battle for custody grows to be dirty and brings us many issues of the past. In the end, Joanna is granted custody, but it calls to question both the mother and father roles in the raising of a child. The court grants her custody not because she is necessarily a better parent, but because it is assumed that a mother would do a better job at raising a child than a father. Ted questions whether he should appeal the court’s decision but decides not to as he does not want to force his young child to take the stand. Thankfully, Joanna finds that Billy’s true home is with Ted, and allows them to stay together.
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