Francis Ford Coppola is one of the most important film directors to ever live. He’s the man behind eternal classics like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. And for more than 40 years now, he had been working on a dream project, a film called Megalopolis. In recent years, he was finally able to put the wheels in motion on the ambitious project, and he even ponied up to largely finance the $120 million movie himself.
And finally, now, Francis Ford Coppola’s epic has been released into theaters… to bad reviews and massively underwhelming box office results. Let’s zoom out: Megalopolis stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esponsito, and a who’s who of supporting characters that includes Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. **A fable set in the futuristic city of New Rome, the film seeks to marry Shakespearian language with a tech billionaire main character to tell the story of a flawed genius working to build a utopian future. The movie is zany, bombastic, audacious, and… just okay at best?
I enjoyed my time in theater seeing Megalopolis with 11 others at a Saturday matinee, but my enjoyment was mostly the side effect of seeing a legendary director get bonkers performances from some of the best actors working today. The story itself is confusing, and summarizing the plot would be a fools’ errand. I’ll always find it worthwhile to check in on what a late-career legend like Coppola is up to, but Megalopolis pales in comparison to recent works from his peers, such as Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon or Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans.
I’m glad he made it, and I’m glad I saw it, but Megalopolis is every bit the confounding mess that its reception would lead you to believe. But then again, maybe that’s what makes it worthwhile.
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