Megalopolis, 2024.
Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Starring Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire, Grace VanderWaal, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, James Remar, Chloe Fineman, Isabelle Kusman, D.B. Sweeney, Haley Sims, Balthazar Getty, Bailey Ives, Adams Bellouis, Madeleine Gardella, and Romy Mars.
SYNOPSIS:
The city of New Rome is the main conflict between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of a utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.
Somewhere buried underneath the bluntly narrated New Rome parallels to America’s current downward spiral, the family scheming, betrayals, sociopolitical commentary, endless philosophical musings quoting other famous works and speeches that never quite stick or mean much, sci-fi concepts such as a biological building material dubbed Megalon, the earnest desire to build a promising future and preserve crucial aspects of the present and past, and an ensemble where everyone seems to think they are in a new movie from scene to scene, is a good film within legendary writer/director Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-development-hell passion project Megalopolis.
These haphazard elements come together for a final scene that is sincerely moving. The preceding 2 hours and 10 minutes is an onslaught of ideas presented and ambitious set pieces (ranging from living, breathing, suffering statues to extravagant Roman-inspired weddings with modern twists such as wrestling matches replacing gladiatorial combat to futuristic envisionings of a better world) carrying an impressive, transfixing visual language (courtesy of cinematography from previous Francis Ford Coppola collaborator Mihai Malaimare Jr) that ensures even if viewers are flabbergasted at how disjointed and unwieldy the narrative is, it is undeniably hypnotic and striking to absorb.
The question then becomes, does that mean anything if the film is ambitious to a crippling fault and a structural disaster? An early scene sees New Rome Chairman of the Design Authority/architect Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver, who is either miraculously on Francis Ford Coppola’s wavelength or so locked into his distinct take on the character that, if nothing else, it’s a memorable performance for right and wrong reasons) stopping time during the demolition of a building. The reason doesn’t matter, but at times, Megalopolis is similarly catastrophically crumbling (under the weight of its gigantic audacity) that one wishes they too could say “time… stop!”, take a breather, and digest what’s happening for a moment.
By the way, yes, Cesar can stop time. However, it’s an ability that plays more into characterization than anything plot-specific, which might be why it’s one of the few and far between elements that work here. Not only is he a man who can stop time, but he is also paranoid that there isn’t enough time to accomplish his ambitious dream of building a futuristic utopia called Megalopolis. There is also something about the idea of someone who can stop time yet still feels as if they don’t have enough, which is trippy and compelling.
Cesar is opposed by the polarizing Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who is less concerned about the future and more interested in doing something about the present. Yet, he mostly appears to be selling the usual political lies to keep up public trust. However, that support is gradually fading and soon transitions into full-blown riots (with other factors coming into play.) As such, he is determined to do whatever he can to put up a roadblock for Cesar, even if it means slandering his public image as possibly having murdered his wife since the body was never recovered. Mayor Cicero’s socialite daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) attempts to fool Cesar in disguise and gather some intel (one of the film’s most unintentionally hilarious scenes, and one that is inexplicably being used to market the theatrical run), which is easily seen through and gets her belittled in such a manner that, to be a fly on the wall while everyone was working through the performances would have been a treat.
Nevertheless, romance eventually develops and becomes the film’s heart, and it probably should have been a more significant focus. Instead, Megalopolis is caught up in backstabbing wealthy relatives of Cesar, including a billionaire bank owner played by Jon Voight (he looks seriously confused and not in a funny way, but the concerning late-career Bruce Willis way where there turned out to be a neurological diagnosis in play), a power-hungry cousin (Shia LaBeouf) willing to doublecross anyone, and Cesar’s former mistress and gossip-obsessed newscaster Platinum Wow (Aubrey Plaza delivering the most consistent performance, and a fittingly crudely nutty one at that even if the character comes across as a misguided, uneasy helping of rampant misogyny from the film’s controversial filmmaker.)
The in-house scheming and drama between them take away from a relatively moving romantic subplot between Cesar and Julia, even if there still isn’t any real character development happening. It more comes down to a feeling radiating from the screen. Considering that aspects of Cesar’s egotistical personality and humiliating slander are on full display, it also doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility that Francis Ford Coppola is throwing up a version of himself on screen (a theory more credible considering the ending credits dedicate the film to his deceased wife). Francis Ford Coppola’s call to action to build a better world with updated principles is admirable and even something some people need to hear, but one wishes that he constructed a better movie out of it than Megalopolis.
SEE ALSO: 6 Underrated Francis Ford Coppola Movies
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published September 29, 2024. Updated September 30, 2024.
