Megalopolis is a scifi/drama set in 'New Rome' aka NYC about Cesar(Adam Driver) a rich, genius architect who has invented a miracle substance that he wants to use to recreate the city into what he believes will be a utopia, he's opposed by other rich, powerful individuals.
Other than Talia Shire in too brief a role, the entire cast is absolutely adrift, unable to make sense of the stilted, barely cogent dialogue, and schizophrenic tone. They all flounder and it is in turns boring and pitiful to watch. Most of the women characters only agency or purpose is through sex and the offensive virgin/whore archetype is pretty much expressly embodied by Aubrey Plaza and Nathalie Emmanuel. Writer/director Francis Ford Coppolla, because of some kind of Boomer petulance, also specifically cast "cancelled" actors Shia LaBeouf and Dustin Hoffman(who are profoundly boring in their roles) as well as Jon Voight(who at least imbues his stereotype of a character with some energy) but none are particularly compelling and their presence serves as a distraction, a hinderance, rather than the vindication of whatever point old, white, rich dude Coppolla thinks it is. All in all you simply feel bad for the actors, one assumes they signed up specifically and exclusively because it was Coppolla but whatever edge or artistry he had in the 70's/80's has abandoned him.
There are moments of visual flare, every 20 minutes or so there's a sequence that's really interesting and compelling. Unfortunately its not consistently so and with flat, awkward, inscrutable characters moving through them they lack much impact. The production as a whole is discordant, the movie claims to be set in "New Rome" but it very much looks like New York City, there are a couple interior scenes with lavish sets but then the following scene is just on a straight up unadorned NYC street. The costuming is also all over the place, the quality ranges from incredibly cheap to high end, the design ranges from "New Rome" to just regular street clothes. The score is numbing, somniferous. The sound mix is shoddy and there are multiple scenes where it is difficult to hear the dialogue. All in all a total mess.
What its "about" is equally baffling and offensive. There's a weird and dated kind of Ayn Rand vibe that underscores the whole picture, there's much pontificating about ideas but what it boils down to is the rich and powerful believing they know what's best for the people and taking action with no real knowledge or interest in what that effect will be(in the context of the movie hundreds if not thousands of people are displaced in the service of this 'utopia' with no real thought). Very libertarian bootstraps bullshit. Cesar is John Galt.
What your left with is a passion project that absolutely would not have been made had Coppolla not self funded it and because he self funded it he had no one to reign him in or offer him constructive feedback. And the reality is filmmaking is a collaborative process and the constraints of budget and/or a studio, more often than not, make for a better result particularly when you're dealing with these aging directors who, with all due respect, have lost much of their creative ability and insight being inoculated by wealth and success- Coppolla has nothing left to say or what he does have to say is standard Boomer bleating that the majority of movie goers have no interest in(nor should they).
An absolute and just flop.
Currently in theaters.
Don't See It.
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