Director Francis Ford Coppola has found himself at the center numerous news articles and social media posts since the announcement that he would personally be financing his 100 million dollar epic, Megalopolis. It’s not the first time that the Oscar winning director has bet on himself with his own money, but the landscape of theatrical profitability and audiences’ tastes have evolved in the multi-decade gap since Coppola helmed a feature film of this scale.
Initial stories and social media commentary were focused on the difficulty of regaining the massive personal fortune Coppola was investing in a screenplay that he’s constantly tweaked over the years. Those news stories would be eclipsed as word leaked that numerous crew members were quitting midway through production, triggering speculation about financing issues and on set management. In an even wilder turn of events, a sensational story appeared in Variety questioning Coppola’s alleged on set behavior which sparked a lawsuit from Coppola against Variety weeks before Megalopolis‘ release.
The argument that any press is good press might be defunct here, as tracking for the film’s wide release places it well below 15 million. The initial reviews from the 77th Cannes Film Festival were mixed, with most critics’ remarks landing in the “misfire” versus “masterpiece” category. The film boasts an impressive cast and production design worthy of awards consideration, but how will the story resonate with audiences? Let’s dive in and discuss.
Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating project takes place in alternative American Republic where Adam Driver plays Cesar Catilina, an inventor with a Nobel Prize and vision for a better world in this world where production design merges elements of Rome and New York City.
Cesar wants to craft the “perfect school-city” where humanity can live up to its potential, but he faces opposition from small-minded types like Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). A grounded thinker with many constituents to answer to, this career politician has no patience for Cesar’s fantasies. Their friction is a through-line in this 100 million dollar gamble of a film, and Coppola has the film narrated by Fundi Romaine (Laurence Fishburne). Fundi works under Cesar and one wonders if the narration was a necessity in post production to tether this uneven narrative together.
Cesar crafted a bio-adaptive material known as Megalon. The name goes hand in hand with the futuristic (dare I say utopian) city of Megalopolis. It’s one of many things Cesar is working on, which includes an ability to stop time.
New Rome city mayor Franklyn Cicero opposes the plans. After Cesar announces a New bio-adaptive material he’s crafted (Megalon) and his plan to utilize it in fashioned the most perfect version of a city, Megalopolis. Cesar’s plan is announced in a televised speech, and Mayor Cicero Cicero — who opposed his high-minded vision — and counter-punches Cesar’s ambitious project with the age old tactic of a smear campaign.
The Mayor’s campaign focuses on the death of Cesar’s wife and the disappearance of her body which is a mystery.
It has an instant effect as TV presenter Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), who has been Cesar’s lover, leaves him to marry his uncle, Hamilton Crassus III (Jon Voight). Plaza’s Platinum is pulled into a plot involving Catilina’s cousin, Clodio Pulcher (Shia LaBeouf), and Crassus III. Long winded bouts of dialogue dissect debt, machinations of utopia, but none of this proves to be quality filmmaking or the grand storytelling Coppola has been capable of in years past.
With and end to his triste with Wow Platinum, Cesar is back on the field and finds interest in Mayor Cicero’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel). Julia is no strangers to the lavish party lifestyle, but she’s able to quote the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius which intrigues Cesar.
During their early dates, Julia spies on Cesar and an inherent distrust of the man her father opposes. Julia is immune to Cesar’s ability to stop time and she reveals this to him as they bond and her distrust fades. Cesar brings Julia onto the Megalopolis project.
Cesar takes drugs while attending the decadent wedding reception for his former lover Wow Platinum and Voight’s Crassus III. LaBoeuf’s Clodio crafts a scandal involving an inappropriate relationship between Cesar and teenage singing sensation Vesta (Grace VanderWaal) in the hopes of taking Cesar down through the courts.
Cesar is arrested but cleared of the suggested crimes and set free. Following the scandal, Vesta makes a career shift with a sexually charged persona a la 2000s Christina Aguilera. It’s unclear why the character is featured in the narrative beyond the initial scandal, as the film feels overstuffed with plotlines and characters.
Following Cesar’s arrest, it seems he’s lost his ability to stop time, but thankfully he and Julia can still stop time together. With so many characters and so much manipulation and plotting behind the scenes, you might imagine all plot elements will come from the political and social maneuvering of the elites within this city’s hierarchy. All that changes when the Soviet Union satellite Carthage comes crashing into New Rome from space, destroying much of the city. This disaster allows Cesar to begin constructing Megalopolis, despite Mayor Cicero’s opposition.
In a press conference, Cesar once again implores citizens to engage in a dialogue about building a better world. The revelation of Julia’s pregnancy leaves Cesar pleased and Mayor Cicero in immense discomfort (to put it mildly).
Mayor Cicero tries to bribe Cesar to leave Julia and even teases information about what happened to Cesar’s wife. Cesar has no plans to indulge Cicero and now LaBoeuf’s Clodio becomes a thorn in the side to both men. Clodio’s sews seeds of discontent against both men with fascist rhetoric and an alliance with Wow Platinum. Platinum gains favor with Clodio and he assists her in the hostile takeover of Crassus III’s fortune. This hostile takeover also freezing Cesar’s bank accounts which is hardly the worst thing that he’s about to face.
An assassination attempt wounds, but fortunatley fails to kill Cesar as he uses his Megalon material to heal his body. Clodio’s rhetoric triggers protests against Cesar and Cicero and they devolve into riots, leading Mayor Cicero to seek refuge in an underground bunker. The board of directors force Crassus III out of his position as bank CEO.
A furious Crassus III attacks Platinum and Clodio with a bow and arrow, killing Platinum and wounding Clodio. Cesar confronting protestors at Megalopolis giving the most impassioned speech of his life and he wins the crowd over with his vision of the future. Clodio’s protestors turn against him and hang his body upside down. Crassus III pledges to use his wealth to support the construction of Megalopolis.
There’s a flashfoward to the completed Megalopolis with a pleased Cicero now at peace with his in-laws, holding Sunny Hope (the daughter of Julia and Cesar). Cicero pledges his support to Cesar and building a better future. It’s the sort of picturesque Hollywood ending that fails to live up to the sum of its parts.
Letter Grade: C-