By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Don’t be fooled by the title, “Armageddon Time” is not the latest action-packed disaster flick from Michael Bay, far from it. The title is actually inspired by The Clash song of the same name and a quote from Ronald Reagan regarding moral depravity. This is a coming-of-age story packed with important, heartfelt messages that tend to get lost in the lackluster way its presented.
Set in 1980 in Queens, New York, “Armageddon Time” centers on Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a young Jewish boy navigating the social complexities of school life. He is a 12-year-old dreamer aspiring to be an artist with well-meaning parents, Irving (Mark Strong) and Esther (Anne Hathaway), who continually try to keep his head out of the clouds and focused on his schoolwork. Paul finds himself in trouble at school more often than not, leading him to make fast friends with fellow class disruptor, Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), an African-American boy struggling with much fewer resources available than his new friend. After getting caught smoking weed with his new friend, Paul is removed from the public school and placed in a private school overseen and financed by Fred Trump (John Diehl), Donald’s father, to help guarantee a brighter future.
When Paul notices the disparity in treatment between him and Johnny, he turns to his closest confidant, Grandpa Aaron (Anthony Hopkins) for sage advice. His grandfather reveals how his mother fled antisemitic persecution in Ukraine around World War II to eventually immigrate to the United States. As the harsh realities and tragedies of life close in around Paul, he hatches a desperate plan with Johnny to fight back and escape the inequalities.
James Gray writes and directs this character drama, infusing experiences from his own childhood to lend more personal impact to the story. The New York City native loves making movies about his hometown as evidenced in his previous works, “We Own the Night,” “The Yards,” “Two Lovers,” and “The Immigrant.” He successfully captures the socioeconomical climate of 1980 New York and the impact of race, incorporating subtle prejudices and privilege that arise in everyday life.
While he superbly conveys the realism of the period, Gray creates a meandering and plodding story with no umph, diluting his messages of familial bonds, friendship, and racial inequality. A film of everyday life specific to 1980 New York doesn’t really move the needle, instead becomes disappointingly boring, minimizing its effectiveness.
Gray is a master of character development, and he certainly shines here creating rich, three-dimensional characters each with their unique faults and backstories of young Paul and his family. Curiously, though, he neglects to incorporate much depth to the Johnny character, which is odd considering this film acts as an apology to Johnny. This establishes less audience attachment to a significant part of the story.
Child actor Banks Repeta provides a mediocre performance in a lead role that proves to be too much for him to handle. He does a sufficient job as an innocent dreamer battling the realities of life, but he needed to be great to elevate this film. Banks was previously in “The Black Phone,” a very well-made horror film that featured a better child actor in Mason Thames. Co-star Jaylin Webb gives a solid performance as the underprivileged, rebellious friend, but gets cut off at the knees with the lack of character development.
Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong deliver strong and thoughtful performances as loving parents whose main motivation is to ensure their son is given every opportunity to succeed in life. Strong, who won an Emmy in 2020 for his incredible portrayal of Kendall Roy in HBO’s “Succession,” shows some dynamic range in this role, beautifully demonstrating a father’s inner struggle to always have the right answers.
Two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins is marvelous as always as the sage grandfather dropping nuggets of wisdom that represent the inspiration for making this movie. Jessica Chastain, who won her first Oscar last year for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” has a small, inconsequential yet interesting role as Maryanne Trump.
“Armageddon Time” falls way short of being the Oscar contender it wants to be, but it is worth seeing from a nostalgic aspect and its genuine, well-meaning nature. Maybe bring a coffee to be safe.
This movie earns:
