Robert Benton

Director of Kramer vs. Kramer and Places in the Heart.

The Human Stain (2003) -- I didn't make it past 30 minutes or so of this movie; if I would have, I would have probably hated it rather than severely disliked it. The first bit was average enough, but when Nicole Kidman (usually one of my favorite actors) arrives in the film, it gets ridiculously bad. When Anthony Hopkins says "making love," she quickly corrects him with "fucking." She says (proudly?) that her stepfather couldn't keep his hands off her. She lets her sweater dangle around her purposefully/nonchalantly while she smokes cigarettes. That kind of crap that only a horrible male writer could make someone say and do. Apparently, we eventually find out that Anthony Hopkins's character is a black man. Whatever.