Directed By James Grey

Starring – Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins

The Plot – A deeply personal coming-of-age story about the strength of family and the generational pursuit of the American Dream at the culmination of a racially segregated 1980’s New York, and the effect that it has on the child protagonist (Banks Repeta) at the forefront, with his eyes open for the first time ever.

Rated R for adult language and some drug use involving minors

ARMAGEDDON TIME – Official Trailer – In Select Theaters October 28 – YouTube

POSITIVES

James Grey returns to the personally intimate and small scope brand of filmmaking that has since made him a household name, this time with an autobiographical dissection of growing up in the 80’s, and its ties to contemporary instances. In ways, it’s the director’s “Belfast” in this regard, but unlike that film, not one that necessarily looks back on the age with the warmth and tenderness of nostalgia, instead articulating the flux in an ever-changing society through the lens of a forth-coming Ronald Reagan election, and what that impact will have on an already rocky sociological form of race relations, as seen through the eyes of a middle class Jewish family with their own impending doom. This aspect itself transcribes many uncanny parallels to Donald Trump’s rise to power in 2016, giving its sociological insight a stern but honest approach in the air of the setting’s evolution, with an overwhelming sense of repetition plaguing a society that refuses to learn from the plagues that often swallow them whole. As a storyteller, Grey deconstructs all forms of privilege in ways that are easy to coherently interpret, but never in ways that feel alienating or preachy like a wet blanket to the air of its startling commentary, instead illustrating that much of the problems and internal disconnect begins at home, and that we the adults are responsible for grooming the next generation tasked with inevitably changing matters for the better. The film is at its best when it explores life through the eyes of its child protagonists, with an occasionally whimsical innocence giving way to the diversity of their trouble-causing punishments being the loudest example of the inequality between them. This is only further enhanced by Grey’s charms as a filmmaker, exuding an intentionally weathered canvas to play towards all the atmospheric gloom and moral ambiguity being driven by such emotionally complex characters, as well as leadership in guidance to play towards an entirely gifted ensemble. Hathaway and Hopkins are obviously delightful, commanding the screen with a presence in depth and emotional nuance that appraises captivation each time either of them are on-screen, and Jeremy Strong steps out of the shadow of his older brother with an unapologetically thunderous and often times scary portrayal that reached forcefully for that pit in the stomach feeling that any of us received while being punished by our parents. However, for my money, the child actors are the true show-stealers here over their heavyweight counterparts, with the duo of Banks Repeta and Jaylin Webb doing much of the heavy lifting of dominance over the focus of the narrative. The chemistry between them is picture-perfect, transcending the limitations of their contextual on-screen friendship, and the deliveries of each craddle a balance of vulnerability and sincerity that feel like a refreshing breath of air amidst so many internally compromised adults surrounding them.

NEGATIVES

Even with a script not afraid of getting its hands dirty with the combination of many focal points of discussion, the material itself never feels like it dives deep enough towards pulling out something freshly innovative for a conversation on racism that has been done better and more compelling before. Most compromising is this feeling like a story that we’ve heard many times before, with little new or insightful towards balancing a unique perspective that allows it to stand out or convey something unconventional that disturbs or even compels unpredictability to the extent of the traveled narrative. Everything that took place throughout felt realized as much as twenty minutes before it eventually took shape, leaving much of the building momentum stunted between a second and third act transition that should’ve been among the most riveting of the year, but instead feels satisfied on making the observations without rocking the boat towards an exclamation point of a solution. In addition to this, while the lead role of Paul is played remarkably by Repeta, as previously mentioned, the outline of the characterization conjures a problem with the ensuing empathy prescribed to the character’s bleak situation. To be blunt, Paul is a bit of a little shit, continuously testing his parents and causing trouble at school in ways that all but justify the extent of the punishment he continuously receives, all the while carving out a faulty framing device for him that definitely could’ve used a redraft when depicting the worst kind of little boy that the silver screen can conjure. Finally, while the direction for the film is effective in visually conjuring the atmospheric fog that hangs over its people, the technical matters behind Gray are a little too basic and even stilted on generating aesthetics that complement its toughly turbulent plot. The cinematography feels standard, remaining stunting in its movements or complexity in its framing, and the surrounding score feels a bit too stock and on-the-nose, leaving little room of exploration or interpretation audibly towards so many complex scenarios thematically.

OVERALL
“Armageddon Time” is an achingly personal film to James Gray, but never quite the riveting game changer that effectively translates from the pages to the screen. Though the film does have a commanding sociological opinion of where racism and corruption begins, as well as a passionate direction from Gray at its helm, its execution on script borders on pedestrian, leaving its doomsday clock with dead batteries during the moments the devastating blows should be felt the loudest.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-