Review of Armageddon Time (2022) by Moviemitch96 — 03 Nov 2022

A young Jewish-American boy comes of age in 1980s alongside his African-American best friend who serves as a kind but bad influence to him. Their lives are examined through the schools they attend, along with their differing social class, privilege, background, etc.

Written and directed by James Gray, the film serves as a very autobiographical picture for the director, as it's based on his own similar upbringing in Queens New York. The film has many touching and poignant moments and subjects, along with some fine acting from all involved (Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong in particular are stellar as the parents here), and Anthony Hopkins also shines like usual as the grandfather.

Jessica Chastain even pops in towards the middle for a one-scene cameo. However, a lot of it starts to feel a little too heavy-handed and preachy as the film goes on, and I personally started to feel a little checked out three quarters of the way through the film.

Overall, the performances from all are commendable, even from the two young boys, and there are plenty of moving scenes here, but it all starts to feel bogged down by somewhat preachy moral lessons by the second half that water down the film's intended impact.