Review: 'Armageddon Time' is a nuanced tale of innocence lost

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Armageddon Time
4 out of 5 Stars
Director: James Gray
Writer: James Gray
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb
Genre: Drama
Rated: R for language and some drug use involving minors.

Studio Synopsis: A deeply personal coming-of-age story about the strength of family and the generational pursuit of the American Dream.

Review: Set in 1980, “Armageddon Time” is the story of Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), an 11-year-old boy growing up in Queens, New York. It’s also largely a memoir of director/writer James Gray’s childhood. It explores racism, antisemitism, loss and the political tensions that overshadowed the era.

“Armageddon Time” is more about the loss of innocence than it is a coming-of-age narrative. While some would lump the two together, I see them as vastly different things. This is a story about a series of events that influenced the direction Paul took in life. It's about the way our parents try to protect and prepare their children and how those efforts can cause the opposite of what they intended.

Paul’s parents, Esther (Anne Hathaway) and Irving (Jeremy Strong), aren’t particularly successful and while their faith in the American Dream has faded neither is ready to confess their doubt to their 11-year-old son. Grandpa Aaron Ravinowitz (Anthony Hopkins), who survived the Nazis, is more willing to offer Pul an unfiltered point of view. He’s brutally honest. That doesn’t mean Paul understands. When you are 11 years old, the weight of some words is light because you’ve yet to find their real-world meaning.

So, when Paul befriends Johnny (Jaylin Webb), a charismatic Black classmate with a talent for disruptive behavior, it isn’t long before the two find trouble. An effort to separate the duo sends Paul to a private school (on Grandpa’s money) where he is presented with a crossroads. Where will this moment take him?

Despite the efforts of his parents and the blunt advice of his grandfather, Paul is unprepared for the lessons life soon teaches him. He is neither prepared nor protected.

The film’s title, “Armageddon Time,” is a reference to the tension of the era; the idea that at any given moment, the nuclear bombs would be falling. Gray doesn’t dive into where all those tensions are coming from. Partly, I’d suggest, because Paul isn’t interested in the news. His sense of crisis is limited to his own experiences. You don’t have to understand global politics to feel the temperature of the room.

Though our childhoods were radically different, I felt a certain kinship with Paul. I didn’t mind the film’s somewhat laissez-faire pacing because the most mundane moments were layered with purpose. That’s life. “Armageddon Time” isn’t really about victories, though there are one or two. It’s Esther, Irving and Grandpa Aaron all doing their best to raise Paul and failing in their own way. With “Armageddon Time,” Gray captures the tragedy and messy beauty of that.