Megalopolis

I started this review in September 2024

Does this movie work? Not really. Do I love this movie? Absolutely.

I’ve only seen 3 movies from Francis Ford Coppola: Tucker: The Man And His Dream, Jack, and now Megalopolis; with these three films as samples of what he can do as an artist and director I say: I like the man.

To be brief, the plot of Megalopolis is that a genius inventor is trying to create a utopian city within the futuristic city of New Rome and faces opposition from the current people in power.

This movie is the longest student film I’ve ever seen.

Francis, what are you doing? What is going on in your mind? I love it. I think, unironically, this film is good on its own terms. I got the message and the meaning. The film is filled with abstractions, campy, oddball performances, and just a hope that can’t be dissuaded.

Adam Driver is incredible and one of the few actors that could off such a wild and weird role. There are several line deliveries that and incomprwsenable but perfect.

There’s a sequence where Adam Driver takes a bunch of drugs and it’s all colors and sound and music all at the same time and as someone with Bipolar Disorder I was like “yes, this is normal and fine.” Adam’s character is a Great Man archetype which is annoying, but also admits to have Bipolar Disorder several times due to the films stilted and repetitive dialogue.

The person who knows best what movie they are in is Aubrey Plaza, delivering a tour deforce in camp and horniness. She plays a character named Wow Platnum, a reporter that’s willing to do anything, even suffer Shia LeBeouf to get what she wants. I love her in this movie and always.

This movie looks like Spy Kids. There I said it. It looks like Francis looked at the Star Wars Prequels and said “not enough green screen.” It’s amazing. It scratched an itch I’ve had since movies like Sucker Punch, Sin City, Spy Kids, and of course, Attack Of The Clones. Ascetically daring and often baffling the film looks like a headache one wheels and I’m here for it.

This film half way through is just music and images of America and honestly? I think we might need that more now than ever. It’s beautiful in its strangeness.

The film is hilarious both on purpose and not. It contains within it the funniest erection joke in cinema history in my estimation.

I love this movie and will probably never see it again.

The runtime is WHAT??? 138 minutes???