Editing Kramer vs. Kramer (section)

==Plot==
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Ted Kramer, a [[workaholic]] advertising executive in [[New York City]], has just landed an important account and job promotion. However, when he shares the news with Joanna, his wife of eight years, she shocks him by announcing she is leaving him. She walks out of the apartment without Billy, the couple's seven-year-old son, because she feels she is unfit to be a mother. The next morning when Billy asks about his mother, Ted explains that she went away to be alone for a while.

Ted drops Billy at his elementary school by asking him what grade he attends and leaving him with a woman at the entrance, before rushing to work. At the ad agency, Ted confides about the situation to Jim O'Connor, his boss and friend. Jim is understanding, but makes clear that Ted's new situation must not interfere with his new responsibility as the lead person on the Mid-Atlantic Airlines account.

Initially, Ted and Billy struggle to adapt to their new living situation as Billy misses his mother and Ted has to do the extra housework usually done by Joanna. Father and son gradually settle into a routine without Joanna, but Ted’s work suffers. Billy and Ted have a fight one evening because he refuses to eat salisbury steak and has ice cream instead which cause a big problem as in resulting in Billy crying for his mother, but they later reconcile. When Billy worries his mother’s departure is his fault, Ted assures him that Joanna left because she was not happy in the marriage.

Meanwhile, Ted has become good friends with divorced neighbor Margaret Phelps, with whom Joanna was a confidante. One day, Billy has an accident when he falls off a [[jungle gym]]. Ted rushes him to the hospital, and asks the doctor to let him stay by his son's side as he receives ten stitches.

After fifteen months, Ted receives a call from Joanna and meets her at a restaurant. Joanna reveals she is happier after working in [[California]] and seeing a therapist. When she states that she is now ready to raise her son and wants Billy to come live with her, Ted becomes furious and leaves. He consults with a divorce attorney John Shaunessy, who cautions that the court usually awards custody to the mother when the child is young.

At work, Jim notifies Ted the agency is letting him go because the Mid-Atlantic Airlines executives are displeased with his work. Knowing he has no chance at custody if he is unemployed, Ted doggedly tries to land a job within twenty-four hours, despite few ad firms hiring during the holiday season. He convinces two agency executives to consider his application immediately, and accepts a lower-salaried position for which he is overqualified.

The custody hearing begins. In court, Joanna asserts that Ted never abused her or was unfaithful, but she lost her self-esteem as a stay-at-home mother. She insists she has since "become a whole person again" and believes her son needs her more than his father. Ted states he has proven that he can parent as well as Joanna, and insists that taking Billy away from him could cause "irreparable" harm.

The legal battle becomes contentious when the attorneys resort to brutal [[character assassination]]s. Shaunessy brings Joanna to tears by forcing her to admit that she was part of the marriage's failure. Ted also admits he made mistakes as a father and husband. However, his job loss and Billy's accident are used to discredit him. Ted expresses resentment at Joanna for her attorney's aggressive tactics. Margaret testifies on behalf of Ted and implores Joanna to recognize that he has become a great father.

Later, Ted learns Joanna was awarded custody. He decides not to appeal in order to spare Billy the burden of testifying in court. Billy becomes upset as Ted explains that they will still see each other, even though Billy will be living with his mother. On the morning Joanna is scheduled to pick up Billy, she rings the apartment building's intercom and asks to see Ted in the lobby alone. She tearfully reveals that she is relinquishing custody after realizing that she does not want to take Billy away from his home. Ted reassures her as she takes the elevator up to inform their son.