A workaholic advertising executive lands a huge client and loses his wife the same day after she announces she’s leaving him. Dustin Hoffman plays Ted Kramer, an often-absentee dad now forced to learn to be a single parent. Meryl Streep plays Joanna, who eventually returns and demands custody of their son, leading to an ugly, contentious custody battle. The film, directed by Robert Benton and based on a novel by Avery Corman, won five Oscars.

Trivia: The woman portraying the courtroom stenographer was a real one. While chatting with Hoffman between takes, she said she used to work on many divorce cases and found them to be emotionally painful.

See our August 2018 cover story: “The 25 Greatest Legal Movies.”