Movie Review | ‘Armageddon Time Captures Time In A Boys Life
In scope at least, Armageddon Time couldn't be further from writer-director James Gray's two previous ambitious films, 2016's The Lost City of Z and 2019's Ad Astra, both critical hits.
Despite the title, Armageddon Time is an intimate and deeply personal film, a portrait of the life of a boy who has experienced a series of dramatic events in a short space of time. Although the drama explores how a child's race can affect their destiny, it is largely autobiographical.
Like Gray decades earlier, Paul Graff (Banks Repetto) is a sixth grader at a public school in Queens, New York, in 1980 while his older brother attends a private school. Paul is not the best student; is a dreamer who likes to draw.
In fact, it's his sketch by his teacher Mr. Turkeltaub (Andrew Polk) that gets him in hot water. However, it also leads to a friendship with Johnny (Jaylin Webb), a black man who repeats his class and incurs the wrath of a perpetually frustrated teacher.
While causing trouble in the classroom, mostly to entertain the other kids, Paul and Johnny begin to bond over music - Johnny turns Paul on for The Sugarhill Gang - and the idea of space exploration. (Paul aspires to be a famous artist, Johnny dreams of being an astronaut.)
His home economics teacher and PTA President, mother Esther (Anne Hathaway) and plumber father Irving (Jeremy Strong) struggle to identify with him, and he mainly feuds with his older brother Ted (Ryan Sell). (Esther and Irving are the children of Jewish immigrants, and in one particularly messy dinner scene, which ends with Paul ordering Chinese food against his mother's wishes because he doesn't tend his kitchen, we see a sense of extended family early on. )
The only person Paul really listens to is his grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins), Esther's father. Despite his mother's ban, Aaron gives Paul some jam and a small rocket, which Paul later throws into the park under his grandfather's watchful eye.
Your relationship is sweet, tender and totally believable, dynamic and brings back memories of childhood with your grandfather. And as the story progresses, Aaron has to teach Paul some important lessons, and not just to try hard in school.
The only person that really brings Paul joy is Johnny. Honest as thieves, they get into so much trouble after turning down a school trip to the famous New York art museum that it jeopardizes their future.
"Grey's" shows how their different home situations, and more broadly their respective races, influence what happens to Paul and Johnny after a series of events together.
However, Armageddon Time cleverly shows what Paul might have looked like at that age, from the times we see Paul falling asleep in a darkened bedroom after a slight startle to the times he wakes up with a family member. get up early.
Credit goes to Repetta ("The Devil All The Time", "Black Phone") for keeping you interested throughout the film. It's probably a bit silly to say — considering Repeta's son is about the same age as Paul — but his performance feels utterly authentic. Of course, we experience the emotions of the characters through their creativity.
There are also a few supporting actors.
Of course, there's the legendary Hopkins ("Father," "The Silence of the Lambs"), who can't help but be borderline charming on screen.
Strong's powerful portrayal of Irving is interesting in part because the character is a far cry from Kendall Roy in Continuity, which earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Irving is a complex character, so it's nice to see how Strong handles the different situations Irving faces.
Meanwhile, Hathaway ("In the Castle," "WeCrashed") doesn't get enough screen time to make Esther as believable as she thinks. It's hard to tell how we feel about her - she's an ambitious but tough woman, but that's not enough to get us interested in her journey - so we wish Hathaway had more scenes.
We're definitely hoping to see more Webb in the next till, who has a supporting role and really makes the setting shine with his richer role. That makes Webb and Gray's writing and directing just as invested in Johnny as it is in Paul, even if it's the latter's story.
Perhaps some viewers wish for more Armageddon Time, especially given the scope of the aforementioned films.
Basically just a sketch, Gray creates something similar to the drawing Paul would do in class, but less straightforward.
"Armageddon Time" is rated R for specific language and low-impact drugs. Duration: 1h54.
