Armageddon Time * * *

A few years ago James Gray gave us the excellent The Immigrant; a film inspired by his  Grandmother coming to America. 

This latest film is loosely based on his childhood in the 1980's. Paul is the youngest boy in a family of  European immigrants living in New York.  Paul's grandparents immigrated after the war. Being of Jewish lineage they were understandably keen to get out of Europe.  

Paul and Johnny's day off.

Paul is at a public school and not really doing well.  Next year he will have to go to High School.  Paul wants to be an artist.  He likes superhero's.  He also likes rockets.  He develops a friend with Johnny at school, a black kid who is obsessed with NASA.  Johnny is doing worse at school than Paul, but he comes from a background where he never had a chance -  and it looks like he never will.

In a way, the story is how a Democrat voting, working class family, abandon their own values and beliefs so their boys can get ahead.  Paul's elder brother has already been transferred to the private school, and now with Grandparents financial help they send Paul off to the same school which is full of children from Republican families. 

To be honest I didn't find watching Armageddon Time a particularly rewarding experience.  I could see the intent and the way it was thoughtfully put together, but that was part of the problem. I felt I was looking at a blueprint rather than a finished product.  Some scenes looked like trial and error and some looked like first takes. I felt I was watching ideas and rehearsals rather than finished product.  It never felt real despite the caliber and experience of the actors which included Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, and Anthony Hopkins. But even if an actor is great they should not necessarily be allowed to play the scene the way they want to, which I felt was often happening here. 

All the parts are there to make up an intelligent film with a message:  The emerging wave of conservativism and selfishness with Ronald Reagan campaigning for the Presidency. The injustice dealt out to Johnny and his growing alienation from Paul.  The symbolism of the rockets, a Kandinsky painting and a speech from Margaret Trump at the school (well played in a cameo from Jessica Chastain and sounding just like that other Trump). Then there was the encouragement from the Grandfather for Paul to attend a school that undermined his own values, and in the family the weird combination of love and violence.  It's all there, but somehow it's not quite working.  Well, not for me anyway.  In the end I found more to admire in concept than execution.