By James Kent
On Sept. 25, the Rutland area received word that its derelict and defunct anachronism of a retail mecca, the Diamond Run Mall, will soon receive its long-awaited transformation into something more purposeful. In Rutland’s future, the decision-makers and innovators of progress decided on — a Super Walmart. Not exactly the stuff to inspire young and old, but perhaps on brand? As for what will become of the existing Walmart, that story is unwritten. However, despite the pleas from area residents to consider a movie theater, Rutland City Mayor Michael Doenges has already all but ruled that out as a realistic possibility.
The naysayers may have a point regarding the woes of cinema today. People were already used to staying home and watching films in the comfort of their living rooms. The pandemic exacerbated the issue, and with most films available to stream on-demand within weeks of a theatrical run, it’s hard to make the argument for building a new cinema in the area, no matter how many fans of the in-theater experience still exist in our region.
We filmgoers and regional dreamers could use a visionary architect like Adam Driver’s Cesar Catilina in Francis Ford Coppola’s new film “Megalopolis.” Catilina is a mysterious figure who can see a future no one else can envision, and somehow, he can stop time. Maybe?
It’s all a bit unsure in Coppola’s unwieldy 2-hour and 20-minute kaleidoscope filled with images, ideas, special effects, wild performances, uneven performances, and every other type of performance one can imagine being conjured up in the name of cinema, plus lots of people wearing capes. People love wearing capes in this alternate reality of a New York City metropolis. I can’t explain it, and I won’t.
Bearing all the trademarks of the most McGuffin of film plot points, Driver’s Catilina’s genius, and perhaps his superhuman abilities, come from a mysterious building alloy called Megalon. Is it an alloy, or is it a power of memory? I couldn’t tell you for sure. Coppola doesn’t try hard to explain these details, which seem essential to the plot for a filmgoer more so than to the writer/director who created this mechanism.
The plot, as it were, is an allegory of the decline of the Roman Empire for some reason. And while using the Roman Empire as a metaphor for the fall of a modern business empire, family is not a new idea. When it took the form of HBO’s “Succession,” there was at least people dressed in modern-day attire. In this film, everyone is sporting a Cesar haircut and names like Clodio, Fundi, Cicero, Crassus, Cesar, and just for fun, Wow Platinum.
I could try to hash out the plot of “Megalopolis” for you, but I don’t think it would matter much in the end. The story makes sense up to a point, but then it goes off into tangents or, even worse, speeches. Oh, the speeches. There are a lot of speeches in this movie, and none are ones you’ll remember or be inspired by, but there is a never-ending supply.
It’s challenging to find a character to root for in this movie. Everyone is pretty much a bad guy or gal, and even those you think are supposed to be good are not nice either. Adam Driver’s Catilina is the architect we’re supposed to root for, but Driver appears to stop caring about being in the film and goes morose somewhere along the way.
Judging from Driver’s past film roles, you don’t bring him on board for a comedy, so I understand the understatement in his performance. But Driver doesn’t appear to be having anywhere near as much fun as Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf and Jon Voight. Did Coppola slip these three actors separate notes to camp it up because that’s what the three of them go for in this whackedout bacchanalia fantasy? Voight is the gazillionaire Hamilton Crassus III, LeBeouf is his scheming grandson Clodio Pulcher, and Plaza is the scheming entertainment newscaster/social climber, Wow Platinum. They scheme and scheme in scenes that play out throughout this film, but Coppola doesn’t make much effort to weave this together into something that makes sense, creates drama, or provides engaging entertainment.
“Megalopolis” is a movie Francis Ford Coppola tried to get made for over 30 years. Finally, he made the decision to finance the movie himself, to the tune of $120 million. That’s a lot of wine at the Coppola vineyards!
If anything, “Megalopolis” is a cautionary tale for film schools to use and demonstrate why scriptwriting and a strong screenplay are essential to a movie, and without it, don’t shoot a film hoping to find something magical.
By all accounts, this “Megalopolis” could be Coppola’s farewell. He’s 85 years old now, and it’s unlikely any studio is going to pony up the money to allow him to make another film. So, whether or not “Megalopolis” is worth the expense of $120 million is irrelevant. Of course, it wasn’t worth it in terms of making its money back. The movie made a paltry $4 million over its first weekend. And, even if the film received praise from every critic writing a review (it definitely didn’t), the movie could never hope to make back the money required to recoup its investment.
The movie, for all its faults, isn’t terrible. I’ve seen far worse movies in 2024. Coppola may have failed to bring a cohesive vision to the screen, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a vision. Far from it. Every frame of this movie finds its way into the light. From cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr.’s striking colors to the sensational set design, to Coppola’s purposeful mise-en-scène, the master behind “The Godfather” series, “Apocalypse Now!,” and “The Conversation” hasn’t lost his ability of how to put a story on film, just how to tell it.
“Megalopolis” is one of the most uneven film experiences around, but it’s never dull. It bursts with creativity, even when the creator doesn’t know how to realize the dream inside his head. I long for the Coppola of “The Godfather,” but I got the Coppola of “One From The Heart” instead.
I rewatched “One From The Heart” recently, and was surprised at how much that financial disaster from 1981 had in common with “Megalopolis.” Both films suffer from the excesses of a talented director trying to push the film medium into new areas. Each comes up short of greatness, but at least Coppola was striving for greatness in new territory. And, in a time when lofty goals equate to safe bets like a Super Walmart, it feels good to know there are still those out there dreaming of something bigger and better and willing to risk it all to make those dreams come true.
James Kent is the publishers’ assistant at the Mountain Times and the co-host of the “Stuff We’ve Seen” podcast.
