BLUF
This is writer/director James Gray’s biopic. It takes place in the Fall of 1980, when he was in sixth grade. With the election of Ronald Reagan in the background, it’s a story about innocence lost, for Paul, the protagonist, as well as for America, about fitting in versus doing the right thing, about taking accountability.
That sounds heavy and moralistic, but it’s not. The story is so personal, and the performances so true, that it never feels didactic or preachy. The actors are excellent: you might think that the big stars would overrun something so intimate, but they don’t. (There is a delightful cameo by Jessica Chastain that heads a little in that territory).
Why should you see it?
I could boil it down and truthfully say that it’s a coming of age story, set in a time and place of great interest, with great performances. We see differences in race and class take two similar boys down two very different paths. But more importantly, I think, what makes it stand out is that every character is real: no one is all good or bad, almost everyone has good moments and not so good moments. There is so much understanding, so much texture.
A number of Gray’s movies (Little Odessa, The Lost City of Z) have been on my “watch one day” list, but the only film of his I’d seen was Ad Astra. Ad Astra felt contemplative, deliberate, and, in my recollection, was an exercise in creating a sense of emotional isolation in the audience, mirroring Brad Pitt’s character’s, in turn a reflection of the loneliness, emptiness, and silence of space.
Although both movies examine troubled father-son relationships, Armageddon Time could not be more different. It is full of warmth; it has empathy and compassion for complicated, flawed people. It wants its audience to understand the mix of good and and bad in its characters.
I love movies that make me feel entertained. But, most entertainments leave an echo of adrenaline and little more. Armageddon Time made me feel like I had understood its characters, and that I had an emotional understanding of people, a moment in time, parts of a life. There’s something sort of magic about that.
Notes from the screening
Gray spoke about how he saw 1980 as a pivotal moment: Reagan’s election was a turn for America, towards greed, hatred, a darkness that we continue to live in. At the same time, many momentous things happened to him and his family; his comments helped me better understand it all (and the added significance of the title and the use of The Clash’s Armagideon Time in the closing credits.
Jeremy Strong’s technique and preparation get a lot of attention, and there was a question asked about that; he did spend time with Gray’s father (or perhaps with videos of Gray’s father? I don’t have notes) and spoke a bit about the preparation helping him to be a “vessel”.
