WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: James Gray
STARRING: Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Michael Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb and Jessica Chastain
Venture as you will into this sometimes somber, sometimes funny new film by Writer/Director James Gray, which by all accounts from the man himself, is loosely based on parts of his own jewish upbringing, growing up in Queens…
And as we meet young Paul (Michael Banks Repeta), he is struggling through life, trying to come to terms with his own existence, in a society that just doesn’t understand his own philosophies on life, and what he wants to do when he grows up…
Enter his biggest cheerleader and fan, Grandpa Aaron Rabinowitz (Anthony Hopkins), who seems to be Paul’s only guiding light, in facing the world, circa 1980, of a twelve year old who has ambitions of becoming the next great illustrator of his generation…
Consumed by her youngest son’s constant defiance, Esther (Anne Hathaway) is also trying to find her own way in this life, as a mother of two, and as PTA President in Paul’s public school…
When Paul’s wonderful friendship with Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), the young black boy who is Paul’s only true friend in school , seems to be taking Paul down the wrong path…it’s up to his parents to defy the public school’s assessment of their son, and find a way to afford to send both their son’s to private prep school…
Now, as Paul really struggles to fit in to his new surroundings, and take in the complexities and stereotypical mind games of the rich and elite that inhabit his new school…all Paul longs to do is hang with his buddy Johnny, and figure out a way to get them both out of Queens, so they can both fulfill their destinies…
I give ARMAGEDDON TIME a rating of 4 out of 5 Stars: From it’s exceptional cast, to it’s return to a time and place from my own youth – 1980 – where I too was constantly questioning what was happening within our society, and our world, ARMAGEDDON TIME has a very real viewpoint of a world gone awry. Michael Banks Repeta’s performance as this stories main character Paul Graff, is exceptional the whole way through, as he struggles through life, not knowing if he should follow his own path, or listen to his families insistence that he go to college “to equalize his future”, rather than focus on his love of illustrating as “his way” to make a living. The commoraderie between Paul and his friend Johnny, played fabulously well too by Jaylin Webb, gives you a sense of a friendship that I hope all youngsters are priviledged to find in their young lives, but also gives you the sense of 1980’s societial consequences for your actions all along the way. You truly get the sense that writer and director James Gray is emotionally entrenched in the telling of his story as well along the way, as you find yourself in anquish at times, watching what is happening to Paul and Johnny, along the very different paths that society has set forth for them. Hathaway and Hopkins playing the father and his daughter who anquish over what to do with young Paul, as they try to keep him on the straight and narrow, is wonderful to view too. But the most powerful performance for me throughout this film comes from Jeremy Strong, who plays the boys Father Irving Graff, who is pretty agressive in the handling of Paul throughout most of this film, although in hindsight you find that he wants nothing more than to make a better life for his sons, than he had growing up. Seeing how tough it was for this father to translate his love and affection, in the traditional sense of those words, only took me back to the way that even my own loving father struggled. I loved too with this film, that the underlying influence throughout this wonderful depiction of life in the early 80’s, was the election of Ronald Reagan, and Jeremy Strong’s line, playing Irving Graff, when Reagan wins the election in this film, will forever be etched in my mind! If there is only one film that you head out to see this weekend at a theatre near you, please take the time to see ARMAGEDDON TIME, because if you grew up in this era of the 80’s like I did, I promise this film will come crashing home for you, through every scene as well…
Kathy Kaiser
MATINEE CHAT with Kathy Kaiser 