6 minute read
‘Armageddon Time’ Had Good Intentions
from Sunday Signal 110622
by Signal
ENTERTAINMENT
By Richard Roeper
Signal Contributing Writer
1/2 (out of four) Focus Features presents a film directed by James Gray. Rated R (for language and some drug use involving minors). In theaters.
The majestic Anthony Hopkins nearly saves the well-intentioned but dour and heavy-handed American family portrait film “Armageddon Time” in a single, elegantly constructed scene in which Hopkins’ family patriarch, Aaron, is in the park with his grandson Paul (Banks Repeta), who tells Grandpa at his new private school, “Sometimes kids say bad words about the Black kids.”
“What do you do when that happens?” asks Grandpa Aaron.
“Obviously nothing, of course.”
“You think that’s smart? Next time those schmucks say anything bad about those kids, you’re gonna say something. You’re gonna be a mensch, OK?”
Grandpa then tells Paul to give him a “firm handshake” and a hug, while in the distance, Paul’s mother and Aaron’s daughter, Esther (Anne Hathaway), sits in the car, overcome with emotion — because she knows something about her father’s health that hasn’t yet been conveyed to Paul, who worships his grandfather.
It’s a simple yet complex and beautifully executed scene, and it speaks to the strength of “Armageddon Time,” writer-director James Gray’s Truffaut-esque and deeply personal work about growing up as the descendant of Jewish immigrants in New York City in 1980, on the cusp of the Reagan years. There are times when this film feels absolutely real and lived-in, as when Paul’s extended family gathers for dinners where everyone talks at once and nobody is listening, and you can feel the tensions but also the enduring and abiding love at the table. Unfortunately, Gray’s central young character isn’t as sympathetic or likable as the talented filmmaker must have intended, and the constant lecturing about white guilt among liberals is delivered in all caps, with exclamation points.
Young Banks Repeta does a fine job tackling a heavy load as the central figure in Gray’s story: one Paul Graff, who in the Queens of 1980 is about to start his first day of school as a sixth grader at P.S. 173, where Paul is more interested in drawing comic-book characters and clowning around than paying attention to the rigid Mr. Turkeltaub (Andrew Polk), one of those Movie Teacher characters who seems to hate children and the very idea of real education. Paul makes fast friends with fellow mischief-maker Johnny (Jaylin Webb), a Black student who is bussed in to school every day — but time and again, it’s Johnny who takes the fall whenever the two get into trouble, in or out of school. As Johnny’s hot-tempered father, Irving (Jeremy Strong), says after one such incident for which Paul will get away scot-free, “Be grateful when you get a leg up. You make the most of your break and do not look back.”
This is a constant theme in “Armageddon Time,” as Paul’s family speaks of the struggles of the Jewish people and the history of hatred and persecution of the Jews, even as some of them wave off casual racism in their own community. It’s a lot for an 11-year-old to process, but Paul is written as a naive, impetuous and often downright bratty kid, especially in his treatment of his loving mother, who seems overwhelmed by a life that entails teaching home economics and trying to run an overcrowded and loud household. She’s dealing with a husband who believes in the belt as a tool of discipline, an older son (Ryan Sell) whose bullying of Paul goes beyond normal big-brother stuff, and Paul, who openly disobeys her and hates his life so much he’s planning to run away with Johnny, who is essentially homeless and increasingly desperate to skip town.
“Armageddon Time” takes a bizarre turn when Paul’s family sends him to private school, where, on his first day, he’s cornered by Donald Trump’s father, Fred (John Diehl), I kid you not, who looks and acts like Vincent Price in a horror movie, questions Paul about his REAL last name and hustles Paul into a school assembly, at which Mary Trump (Jessica Chastain) proclaims, “In this institution, you can be anything you want to be. It won’t be because of a handout. It’ll be because you earned your way there.” Now, THAT’S rich.
Writer-director Gray (“Ad Astra”) and the production design team and cinematographer Darius Khondji
perfectly capture the 1980 time period, from the sets to the clothes to the snippets of Ronald Reagan on TV, campaigning for the presidency and then celebrating his landslide victory on Election Night, as Paul’s family looks on in disbelief. The cast is excellent, with Oscar winners Hopkins and Hathaway doing true character work, and “Succession” star Strong demonstrating once again he can disappear into a wide variety of characters. Laemmle Theatres • Santa Clarita Signal Alas, I found Paul’s antics more 3col (4.75”) x 5.9” frustrating and exasperating than endearing, and the steady drumbeat of Ad insertion date: messaging about institutional racAd cre PHOTO COURTESY IMDB ation/delivery date: ism at the school, at a police station and in and around the Graff family, becomes more tiresome than enlightening. The best intentions, even from such a fine filmmaker, don’t always translate to the best movies. Copyright 2022 Chicago Sun-Times
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ENCORE 1:10 4:10 7:00 Julie Taymor’s kaleidoscopic production returns to select cinemas this holiday season in an encore presentation of the company’s first-ever Live in HD transmission, starring tenor Matthew Polenzani, baritone Nathan Gunn, and bass René Pape.
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER C Thu: 4:00 7:30 Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje, fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda
ARMAGEDDON TIME E 1:20 4:20 7:20 A deeply personal story on the strength of family, the complexity of friendship and the generational pursuit of the American Dream.
PREY FOR THE DEVIL C 1:30 4:30 7:30 Sister Ann, a novice nun who devoutly believes performing exorcisms is her calling, confronts a demonic force that infests those around her and has mysterious ties to her past.
BLACK ADAM C 1:10 4:10 7:20 Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods - and imprisoned just as quickly - Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.
TICKET TO PARADISE C 1:30 4:30 7:30 George Clooney and Julia Roberts reunite on the big screen as exes who find themselves on a shared mission to stop their lovestruck daughter from making the same mistake they once made in TICKET TO PARADISE.
TILL C 1:00 4:05 7:10 Till is a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14 year old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was brutally lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.
TÁR E 1:00 3:50 6:55 From producer-writer-director Todd Field comes TÁR, starring Cate Blanchett as the iconic musician Lydia Tár. TÁR examines the changing nature of power, its impact and durability in our modern world.
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