Armageddon Time (2022)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Ionic Bonzo

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

James Gray apparently dug into his childhood for this powerful drama, and came up with something somewhat devastating, rather than something cuddly and nostalgic. It's like Barry Levinson's Avalon morphing into The 400 Blows.

Feeling utterly organic and lived-in, Armageddon Time takes place in 1980, when the New York Jewish Graff family fears the possibility of Ronald Reagan becoming president. (The title evokes both Reagan's fear-mongering speeches as well as the era's most essential rock band, The Clash, who recorded a song called "Armagideon Time.")

Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) has other things on his mind. He wants to be an artist, something his parents frown upon, and he's overjoyed to have made a friend. He meets Johnny (Jaylin Webb) when they're both stuck inside during "outside time" as a punishment. (Judging from the soul-killing, timed ball-tossing that happens out the window, they're lucky.) They bond over some NASA buttons Johnny got from his brother in Florida.

Meanwhile, Paul's mother (Anne Hathaway) hopes to run for the school board, so she and Paul's father (Jeremy Strong) are keeping Paul in public school, while Paul's bullying other brother (Ryan Sell) toils in a strict private school. But when Paul and Johnny are caught smoking marijuana, Paul is sent to the private school, despite his violent protests. He finds himself with students who cheer for Reagan and sneer at Blacks.

Meanwhile, Johnny, who had lived with his grandmother (who had dementia) finds himself homeless. As Johnny sleeps in his backyard fort, Paul concocts a crazy plan, inspired by his superhero drawings, but a plan that will reveal the true, horrible nature of How Things Work.

Best of all is Anthony Hopkins as Paul's grandfather, who has a special bond with the boy. We all know that Hopkins is one of the greats, but to me this is one of his all-time finest performances, especially in a multi-tiered sequence where he and Paul to to a meadow to fire off a toy rocket. Hopkins is so gruff and tender that we wish he could be our grandpa too.

The movie leaves off with the curdling understanding that nasty politics and racism are only going to continue — Jessica Chastain is a firm reminder of this with a cameo as Mary Trump — but also with the hope that there still may be an American Dream.