Review: ‘Megalopolis’ is an Eye-Popping, Mind-Boggling Vision from Francis Ford Coppola

When a director finances a film with more than $100 million of their own money – hardly a common occurrence – it’s guaranteed to be, at the very least, a singular vision. When that project has been in some stage of development or loose discussion for almost half a century, it’s hard to miss out on the chance to see the finished product. Many years after making his mark on the industry with the Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and other memorable films, Francis Ford Coppola presents his opus, Megalopolis, a concoction assembled together with many wild ingredients billed as a fable.

In a version of New York called New Rome, Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) is an architect with a bold endgame, demolishing parts of the city in order to use an incredible material called megalon to build a stunning utopia for its residents. His primary opponent in his efforts is Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who wants to keep things as they are, and their rivalry is complicated when Cicero’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) becomes entranced by and involved with Cesar after watching him literally stop time.

There is a lot going on in this film, which somehow only runs two hours and eighteen minutes and features a staggering twelve top-billed cast members. Coppola has championed that the ensemble includes people who have been “cancelled,” incorporating good actors with controversial reputations to good (Jon Voight) and bad (Shia LaBeouf) effect. Above all, Megalopolis is an exercise in excess, an opportunity for a filmmaker to truly realize his vision, however chaotic and unbounded it may be, and to create a protagonist who is the embodiment of that unchecked imagination, working with considerably different and more fanciful resources.

This film is meant to be a Roman tale in modern times, though that telling isn’t entirely consistent. Its characters draw inspiration from history but the roles are modified, and, though its setting is New Rome, with police cars bearing an NRPD logo, it’s very much still America, complete with a mid-film singing of the national anthem. Where it does feel most distinctly like another world is in how its characters dress, constantly taking off one overcoat or cloak to then put another one on, adding to the theatrical nature of a film that posits a sporting event with TV screens and computers running thumb drives that features racing chariots.

Whether or not it should be considered a quality performance, Driver’s take on Cesar is certainly compelling. The recent star of House of Gucci and Ferrari does have the look and demeanor to play this charismatic loner of a leader who has a reputation for pushing the boundaries at every step. He’s magnetic but also inconsistent, matching the variable tone of the film, which sometimes feels meticulously crafted and melodic and at others far too casual and improvised. Opposite him, the typically fantastic Emmanuel has an indiscernible American accent (matched by her onscreen father Esposito) and doesn’t enable Julia to feel like a character all her own, instead someone defined solely by her interactions with the maestro.

An ensemble so large allows for a handful of notable names to barely feature into the storyline, including Jason Schwartzman and Dustin Hoffman as allies of the mayor and Kathryn Hunter as his wife, as well as James Remar and D.B. Sweeney in startlingly limited parts. Grace VanderWaal entrances in one extended scene as the city’s token virgin, embodying an image that is meant to invoke purity but is exploited for an expensive public auction. LaBeouf is unhinged and often unwatchable as a jealous cousin of Cesar’s, a far cry from his formidable work in Honey Boy and American Honey. The shining star in it all is Plaza, who tweaks the moody, sarcastic character type she often plays into a determined, scheming opportunist with sex appeal as journalist Wow Platinum. Even when the film doesn’t feel like it has any idea what it’s doing, Plaza remains firmly on course and focused.

The visuals of this film, whose poster (one of several versions) shows multiple faces and Driver’s Cesar carrying what looks or is at least meant to look like an illuminated cross, are fascinating but contradictory. The city is drab and unspectacular, and Cesar’s designs are so futuristic and deliberate that they often clash and seem like they couldn’t possibly be next to each other. Cesar shows and describes their potential but they appear to be largely presentation over substance, a golden moving walkway to the next open space, all promise but no certainty of return. Like this film, that concept is dazzling but not entirely rewarding, the ultimate example of a filmmaker with so much experience and vision delivering the product of half a century of work. As with Cesar’s vast, enormous undertaking, Megalopolis is brimming with cutting-edge concepts but feels largely unfinished and not entirely certain of its specific purpose or utility.

Movie Rating: 5/10

Awards Buzz: This will certainly be in the conversation, however brief that may be, and there are some that may feel Coppola is deserving of votes. Its production values could also earn mentions, and, in a perfect world, Plaza would be discussed too as a contender for Best Supporting Actress.