I love James Gray's style, so it was a no brainer to go see his new movie. However I was a bit disappointed by the story. The movie is somehow autobiographic, with similarities to his upbringing, as a Jewish-Ukrainian child living in Queens, New York. His directing style is great as always, and I thought the actors were quite good. The movie follows Paul, an 11-12 year old boy, whose only desire is to become an artist when he grows up, and prefers to make his friends laugh than to be good at school. He befriends an African American boy, Johnny, who is taken as a target by their teacher, and seem not to be able to do anything without getting punished. The story makes a parallel between what this poor boy is living through, and what the Jewish family had to go through because of their religion, changing their name, and ultimately moving country. The movie tries to address racism but fails, basically saying that people need to speak out, without actually doing anything about it, culminating in Johnny stating that even if Paul had said something it wouldn't have changed a thing. The movie finishes with the election of Reagan, and the family disappointment. Not the best of James Gray's movies, but still good in my opinion.
Review of Armageddon Time
