"Megalopolis" review

Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” can be described in no single word better than ‘hubris’. For better or for worse.

After decades in the making and being privately funded by Coppola (of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and The Outsiders fame) Megalopolis opened off the heels of a wild publicity cycle.

It featured an advertising campaign where the production team used A.I. generated quotes to falsely attribute positive reviews to media outlets in since-deleted promotional material as well as on-set sexual misconduct allegations from multiple actors against Coppola himself.

Despite these setbacks, if they can be called that, “Megalopolis” stayed relatively on schedule for its release and generated quite the buzz at the Cannes Film Festival, incorporating a third-wall-breaking moment where an actor/audience member interacted with the characters on screen in a sequence filmed exclusively for the showing.

The film had built high anticipation, and you know what they say, the best publicity is bad publicity. What happened next?

The crowd went mild. “Megalopolis” grossed $4 million opening weekend and was immediately pulled from most theaters, making it next to impossible that any substantive sum of the production cost would be made back.

However, according to Coppola, “Megalopolis” was never about the money. It was entirely a passion project, with Coppola mentioning his desire to create such a film in an interview all the way back in 1983, seeking to confront the “why and what of existence.”

Well, does “Megalopolis” confront those questions? Your guess is as good as anyone’s. It certainly doesn’t answer them.

This lengthy preamble feels necessary to pair with a review of a movie as disjointed and poisoned by its development as this production appears to be.

Following the story of “visionary” artist, architect and Nobel prize winner Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) as he presides over New Rome (a blending of Ancient Rome and modern-day New York City), “Megalopolis” attempts to envision how an empire falls and what can be done to stop it.

It also carries a subtext of allowing artists and creatives their freedom to pursue their and humanity's destiny (Catilina also doubles as Coppola’s apparent self-insert, because why wouldn't he).

In a dystopian world where the main issue being presented seems to be the struggles of the lower classes and proletariat, having a movie that is supposed to exemplify the “human experience” only focus on the ultra-rich and sheltered makes it hard to root for Catilina, and as an extension of that, Coppola himself.

Oh, and it's also a romance. Not that you will likely care much for either of the characters involved.

“Megalopolis” tries to tie together so many subplots that not a single one feels worthy of the viewer's time. Viewers will be left questioning what exactly is happening on screen for nearly the entire runtime.

Certainly, for the entire runtime, they will be questioning why they should care.

The characters are uninteresting. The dialogue often falls flat. There is no saving grace such as an iconic score or miraculous special effects.

Everything is very “in one ear and out the other”, as the exchanges between the characters on screen wash across the, by now, fully glazed-over eyeballs of the viewer.

It is worth questioning how that $120 million was even spent.

That’s not to say the production does not feel “big budget”. It does. But while Coppola attempts to point out the rot and crumbling of New Rome as a parallel of human civilization as a whole, wouldn’t this money be better spent doing something about it?

Additionally, the cut-ups and direction lead to a needlessly confusing presentation that is too hard to follow along with, and rewards you with nothing if you manage to do so.

It cannot be stressed enough how poor the editing is in this film.

It leads to whatever atmosphere is created by the actors, who sincerely seem to be trying their best, being squandered. Their words carry little weight amidst the ever-changing set pieces and divergent plot points, little of which carry any interest.

The film does have a strong cast, but the script does them no favors.

At times it feels like they have been directed to dip into a full Shakespearean performance (Caesar quotes the entirety of Hamlet’s soliloquy for seemingly no reason), and other times it feels like the acting one would find on the Hallmark Channel.

Adam Driver certainly tries his best as Caesar. Giancarlo Esposito (Cicero) is practically playing himself at this point, but there are no complaints to be had. A talent like Laurence Fishburne goes completely wasted. Prepare for half the movie to be pointlessly narrated. It adds nothing to the story nor any meaningful context, but at least Fishburne has a nice voice.

Maybe Fishburne’s deep echoey voice interspersed throughout was supposed to remind the viewer that the movie was meant to be really deep. And about humanity and stuff.

Aubrey Plaza was the one true shining grace, with her surrealist performance as career ladder-climber Wow Platinum being the only true “bit” that stays committed to letting itself play out for the audience.

When asked how she received the name Wow Platinum, (in a world of Caesars, Crassuses and Ciceros) she responds with “I gave it to myself, somewhere between Downtown and Penn Station,”.

Perhaps if Coppola was more focused on a surrealist vision for this project it would have felt more cohesive. Surrealism certainly feels like one of the only rhetorical or otherwise artistic homes that would welcome a plot of this sort.

It is hard to find much good to say about “Megalopolis”. Saying Coppola bit off more than he can chew is an understatement.

Save yourself the trouble and don’t drive 37.5 miles to the nearest theater still currently showing it in the State College area, unless you feel that you absolutely have to witness this bit of cinematic history.

For all its troubles and shortcomings, there is no movie in the current cinema landscape that looks or plays out like “Megalopolis”, although that shouldn’t be a reason to spend your money on a ticket.

Nonetheless, it is unlikely he made this movie with anyone but himself in mind.

Perhaps there is some beauty in that to be found.

Rating: 1/5

Trip Tagle is a second-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact them, please email tnt5403@psu.edu.