Megalopolis

Megalopolis
Starring Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Films generally exist to tell a story, to have a cohesive beginning, middle, and end. Something that the viewer can say, "Oh, I understood that." "Megalopolis" isn't such a film, but rather a visionary wonder wrapped in a story that - on the surface - actually does make sense, but the way it's told, and the paths it takes, leaves the viewers wondering what the heck is going on, and what the central message is. You can sense the passion behind the project, but what you see is literally visuals that look like they were vomited on the screen with no sense of reason: beautiful to look at, but utterly confusing in its execution. It leaves a weird taste in your mouth after watching it, like it's supposed to be this grand fable epic, but the story zigzags so much you don't know what the main point of it is.

In the fictional American city of New Rome, Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) is a futuristic architect that has the ability to stop time, and also invented a new material called Megalon that is bio-adaptable and can be used to construct new building materials that he plans to use to build a new city called Megalopolis - a futuristic utopian city of his own design. The Mayor of the town, Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), opposes the building, but his young daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) falls in love with Cesar, further driving a wedge between the two.

Meanwhile, Cesar's cousin Clodio (Shia MaBeouf) is jealous of Cesar's success and sets out to destroy him, and TV reporter Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza) joins forces with him to take Cesar down by manipulating his uncle Hamilton Crassus III (Jon Voight), who also is the head of the Crassus National Bank. As riots erupt in the town, and Cesar's plans continue to move forward, events occur that threaten his ultimate dream to come to reality.

If the plot seems easy to follow, trust me, it isn't. That's the bare bones of it, but scattered throughout is enough divergent paths that will make your head spin. A possibly murdered wife, a sex scandal with a young Taylor Swift-type singer, a Soviet Union satellite falling out of orbit...there's so much going on in this film that Coppola seemed to want to tell he just throw everything at the screen to see what would happen. It's ambitious and insane, and while it doesn't quite land, it's still a movie that should be viewed at least once to say you've seen this film, even if it doesn't make sense.

Coppola financed the entire $120 million dollar budget himself, something he's no stranger to doing - he did it twice before, to film "Apocalypse Now" and "One From the Heart" - and while one went on to achieve cinematic history, the other was such a bomb that it sent Coppola into bankruptcy and forced him to keep making movies to pay off the debt. Sadly, it looks like this will be another failure for the director, who's price tag is way higher than any ticket sales could recoup.

The movie is a look at how America - at least this version - follows the Roman coup attempt in 63 BCE, with Clodio trying to form a coup against Cesar's plans of a new utopia, and everything he does to try to sabotage his vision. Yet it's also a personal look at a filmmaker who's eclectic past showcases his unique vision, as Cesar is clearly a stand-in for Coppola himself, wanting to transform the cinematic landscape from something ordinary and mundane to something beautiful, spellbinding, and captivating.

To that end, the film does a great job in capturing that, even if it seems the entirety of the film was shot on a green screen. The visuals are insane, and often make no sense, but it's crazy to see regardless. If only the actual story matched the visuals, it would've been a fitting end to Coppola's career. Yet as many actors on set said, Coppola would often change the script midway, leaving them confused as to what was going on, and that confusion shows in the final product, as we ourselves are confused as to what's happening on the screen.

It's such an odd thing, this "Megalopolis." On one hand it's visionary gold, but on the other it's a lackluster story that meanders its way through different paths that never seem to connect, but turns into a hodgepodge of different ideas smeared onto the screen. Is it good? Not really. Is it bad? Not really. Is it memorable? Absolutely.

The Score: C-