Family Drama; Courtroom Drama

We imagine that the world record book entry for Most Dramatic Things Ever goes something like this:

1. The fall of the Berlin Wall
2. Bill Mazeroski's walk-off homer to win Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, shocking Yankees fans everywhere
3. Kramer vs. Kramer
4. That time 14-year-old Ashley's parents wouldn't let her go to Lollapalooza without an adult present and she straight-up lost it
5. The War of 1812

Kramer vs. Kramer is a drama, and films in that genre are serious in tone. They may have moments of levity here and there—say, a kid defying his dad's orders not to eat ice cream for dinner, for example—but they're definitely not LOL funny from start to finish. Dramatic narratives usually have high stakes: maybe there's a war, heart, or championship game to win; a disease to beat; or a kid to raise and an ugly custody arrangement to hammer out.

Drama's a big field, though, so it's usually narrowed down based on where all the drama happens and who's involved in it. Kramer vs. Kramer fits into two dramatic subgenres: the courtroom drama and the family drama.

It's a courtroom drama because a big chunk of the film—including its meatiest monologues—takes place in a courtroom (duh) as Ted, Joanna, and their attorneys duke it out over who gets primary custody of Billy.

It's also a family drama because the implosion of the Kramer family is at the film's core. Most of the film's tension comes from the bending, breaking, and redefining of family roles and relationships. Ted's forced to move from absentee father to Mr. Mom overnight, for example; Joanna essentially abdicates her role as Billy's mother. Almost every "big" moment in the movie happens to, or because of, the Kramer clan.