Review: “Megalopolis” is a mess, but the lion that created it still roars

Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” despite its overwhelming ambition, has so little to offer, presenting viewers with a thorny challenge in theaters: Skip it and instead spend two and a half hours numbing your brain on TikTok. Or show some respect and learn why the 85-year-old Coppola spent $120 million of his own vineyard fortune on a passion project he’s wanted to realize since 1977.

Coppola is always at his best when he flirts with catastrophe. Think of The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. You can feel the air escaping the bubble as he rolls along to, say, “The Cotton Club” or “The Rainmaker.”

“Megalopolis” may be high on its own bloated offering, but there’s never a moment of laziness. Adam Driver gives his all and more as Cesar Catilina, a visionary architect straight out of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead who wants to build New Rome, a synthesis of futuristic New York and the Roman Empire. If that sounds great, you haven’t heard anything yet.

The new Rome is definitely on the verge of collapse as Cesar argues with right-wing mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) over how to rebuild a city from its ruins using a revolutionary new material called Megalon. Don’t get too excited. You cannot order Megalon online, at least not yet.

As Cesar stands atop the dizzying Chrysler building (a breathtaking sight), the film introduces its themes and characters. Take Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is stuck in the middle as Franklyn’s daughter and Cesar’s lover.

Coppola intentionally overstuffs his film to the point where audiences may need a scorecard. Among the veterans you’ll find Laurence Fishburne, who cut his acting chops in Apocalypse Now. There’s also a Midnight Cowboy reunion for Dustin Hoffman as Nush Berman, Franklyn’s fixer, and Jon Voight as Hamilton Crassus III, Cesar’s wealthy banker uncle.

Coppola doesn’t shy away from honoring family loyalty, casting his Oscar-nominated sister Talia Shire as Cesar’s mother and Shire’s son, the excellent Jason Schwartzman, as a member of Franklyn’s team. Both avoid any sort of Nepo-Baby spite by behaving admirably.

It’s a real achievement for an actor in Megalopolis to not be lost in the crowd, whether the citizens are dressed up to date or walking around in togas. Shia LaBeouf certainly makes a spectacle as Cesar’s Julia-esque mullet-clad Cesar.

Still, Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum (I love the name) is the standout among the thousands of cast members, a TV gossip character who specializes in financial crimes and misdemeanors and gets much-needed laughs without the script, which unfortunately relies on who specializes in hard work gets the necessary laughs.

It’s up to Driver to keep us interested, despite the handicap of playing a symbol of virtue, while the Serpent, played by the formidable Esposito, gets the best variations. Still, Cesar can stop time with his mind, an enviable ability for viewers who may need some time out to understand an epic film that often defies logic and clarity.

In a recent interview after a screening of “Megalopolis,” Coppola suggested that the upcoming presidential election could reflect the fall of Rome, “for the same reasons that Rome lost its republic and ended up with an emperor.”

Maybe so, but Coppola is too good a filmmaker to bother with partisan politics. At its best, “Megalopolis” draws universal attention to the many forms of corruption through power. As a result, Al Pacino’s godfather lost his soul and Marlon Brando’s apocalyptic colonel lost his mind.

Driver’s architect is on the precipice, exactly where Coppola wants us, contemplating a future that will die without our input. There’s no denying that Megalopolis is a mess, but the lion that created it still roars, even in winter.