Megalopolis

R 2h 18m

• Director
  • Francis Ford Coppola
• Writer
  • Francis Ford Coppola
• Stars
  • Adam Driver
  • Giancarlo Esposito
  • Nathalie Emmanuel

by Jason Koenigsberg

Francis Ford Coppola is usually not a filmmaker known for making sacrifices for his art. His films, whether they are some of the best of all time, or some of the most notorious failures are hard fought endeavors with a lot of passion and conflict behind the scenes to end up with the finished product audiences see. His latest film Megalopolis is a passion project of his that he wanted to make for over forty years. He almost made it over twenty years ago but was delayed after 9/11 and he did not want it to depict New York City in a negative light. In fact I remember reading about it as his next movie credit while it was in preproduction back when I was in high school. Coppola financed the entire $120 budget of Megalopolis out of his own pocket. He had done the same with Apocalypse Now (1979) and One from the Heart (1981), and the failure of the latter made him declare bankruptcy. All of his subsequent films up until The Rainmaker (1997) were made to pay off his debts. Francis Ford Coppola is clearly a better artist than he is a businessman and nobody can deny that he is willing to fight for his visions and make no doubt about it, Megalopolis is a movie that feels like his singular vision. In a time where most movies feel more like products of focus groups and directed by committees to stay safe, not offend anybody, and make a profit, Megalopolis is very refreshing.

But is it any good? Well the star rating certainly indicates that it is not, but this is maybe one of the most personal motion pictures on the grandest scale that the star rating above could change depending on the person, or even the mood of the person who is giving it. Megalopolis is a strange experience to say the least, but it is not a pleasant one either. It does not open up with a usual studio name but Coppola’s own American Zoetrope logo followed by a shot of the sky and then shots revealing New York City. Laurence Fishburne reads a quote in VoiceOver narration comparing the United States to the Roman Empire. It then shows our main character Adam Driver at the top of a skyscraper, probably the Chrysler building since they show that early on. He is standing there with clouds moving quickly yet little to no winds are blowing his Caesar haircut or his sports jacket. He leans over seemingly able to control space and time and defy physics. The title card flashes and it tells the audience this is a fable. So that is Coppola’s excuse to throw logic out the window as Adam Driver was able to stop himself from gravity taking over.

The rest of the movie plays like a fever dream but a very personal dream, almost like it is something Coppola thought and we are seeing the vision from his sleep play out as they did for him and it is about as awkward as that sounds. The themes are reminiscent of Alex Garland’s recent movie Civil War about the end of the United States as we know it. New York is now New Rome and we are going to fall because of greed and corruption just like the Romans did. The parallels are obvious and heavy handed and the movie keeps reminding us of the same comparisons over and over. The dialogue is preposterous and Francis Ford Coppola is too smart to not do this on purpose. Megalopolis is essentially a very expensive independent movie so he made exactly what he wanted to make and it cost him a lot of his own fortune. The talented cast including the aforementioned Driver and Fishburne as well as Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Dustin Hoffman, and Jon Voight promenade around sets that are meant to stand out, costumes meant to show off the designers skill and all manage to maintain their dignity. The men all have the same Caesar haircuts and the names are aggravatingly obvious like Cesar, Cicero, and Crassus. The NYPD emblem is replaced with NRPD, there is a license plate that resembles New York’s and says AOC. This would be clever coming from a college student, not a master filmmaker. Coppola is himself an Italian-American who is proud of his heritage as shown by his filmography and his winery. He probably really wanted to make a connection between the corporate greed that the United States has in droves and how that could lead to our downfall as it did Rome. It might have been more eye opening in the early 2000s, but instead two decades later, this commentary feels stale. That could be forgiven if Megalopolis was not such a grueling watch. With a run time of nearly two and a half hours, Megalopolis felt closer to four and a half hours. I needed to take breaks and walk around while I squirmed in my comfy movie theater recliner. The few times I walked out I came back to realize I missed nothing regarding the plot. Sadly, Megalopolis is one of the most excruciating experiences I have ever had at the movies, but at least it is unique and an original artists true vision. These days that has to count for something.

Skip this and check out The Godfather (1972) or The Godfather Part II (1974) or one of the other classics Francis Ford Coppola directed.