Keepin' It Real

If Ted Kramer's Manhattan looks lived-in and legit, that's because it is.

Kramer vs. Kramer was shot on location in New York City. Billy learns to ride a bike on The Mall in Central Park, for example; that's where he's reunited with his mom, too. When Joanna drops the bomb on Ted that she wants their boy back and Ted chucks his wine glass at the wall, that's the wine-soaked wall of J.G. Melon, a restaurant on Third Avenue that's still there today (source).

Ted's apartment looks like a real apartment, too—by that we mean it avoids the film and TV trope of people living in fabulous apartments that are well beyond their means. (We're looking at you, every sitcom set in New York or Chicago featuring good-looking people under 35.) We may have Dustin Hoffman to thank for that authenticity, at least in part. When the actor first saw the set for Ted's apartment, he reportedly said, "My character wouldn't live in this apartment." The entire set was redone to match what Hoffman envisioned for Ted's crib (source).

One thing that Hoffman can't take credit for are the painted clouds that cover the wall in Billy's room. Those were the idea of cinematographer Néstor Almendros, who favored naturalistic lighting and avoided close-ups during the shoot to increase the realism factor. Almendros intended the clouds to symbolize the safety and stability of home and, since Joanna painted them, be a constant reminder that she left.

When director Robert Benton rewrote the end of the film, those clouds took on even greater significance (source). Check it out:

JOANNA: I woke up this morning. I kept thinking about Billy, and I was thinking about him waking up in his room with his little clouds over him that I painted, and I thought I should've painted clouds downtown because… (She trails off, sniffling) And then he would think that he was waking up at home. I came here to take my son home, and I realize he already is home. 

In the span of a script revision, the clouds on Billy's bedroom wall went from a work of snuggly symbolism to the spark that inspires Joanna to let Billy stay with Ted.

That's one serious paint job.