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Chris Gore and Alan Ng review the movie "Megalopolis". Now Playing in theaters.
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0:04
let's talk about megalopolis this is
0:07
Francis Ford Copa well he describes it
0:10
as a science fiction
0:12
film not quite sure about that this is
0:15
what you would call Francis Ford cop's
0:18
hundred million doll Folly it's his
0:21
magnum opus the movie he has thought
0:24
about making since the
0:27
1980s and it focuses on a
0:31
designer played by Adam
0:34
Driver who is uh trying to imagine a
0:40
world and how to to create civilization
0:45
to it to bring it to its penultimate
0:48
height and it imagines a world in which
0:51
um the Roman Empire never fell but
0:55
continued into modern times so people
0:58
have Roman haircuts some people wear
1:00
robes there's some kind of Roman
1:04
themed uh uh clothing architecture
1:08
fashion whatnot it's very all Roman
1:12
inspired as if as if uh Rome from the
1:16
past came into the present modern modern
1:19
modern times um it features a cast where
1:23
we have the mayor a whole bunch Jean
1:26
Carlo Esposito is the mayor Franklin
1:28
John Voit plays uh another character in
1:32
this Aubrey Plaza plays um she's listed
1:35
as actress and Adam dri's character is
1:39
actor Nath Natalie Emanuel is in it and
1:43
tri abuff rounds out the cast with Khloe
1:46
feineman
1:47
um so H an amazing cast Dustin Hoffman
1:53
is in this I mean he gathered together
1:55
some really amazing
1:57
actors to make a complete piece of like
2:04
incoherent
2:06
garbage you now that doesn't mean it
2:09
does not have its
2:11
moments but that there is any story to
2:15
be told in this it's it's beyond
2:19
me I never felt I mean and there are a
2:22
lot of laughs in this movie and they're
2:24
all
2:26
unintentional I mean so many laughs and
2:29
gaps
2:31
I was shaking my head say what am I
2:33
doing watching this film it's nearly
2:36
three
2:37
hours it's a mess it's a mess there's
2:41
one there are a couple moments there's a
2:44
moment in the middle of the movie where
2:46
the lights come on and a human walks in
2:50
front of the screen and asks a question
2:52
that happened at my
2:54
screening and then the screen goes
2:56
smaller and it's like a little video
2:58
essay about civilization and how can we
3:02
progress as a society like I like that
3:06
Copa is asking questions about why do we
3:09
choose to live like this why can't we
3:12
create a better Society there are really
3:15
great questions the movie asks but not
3:18
in a way that's even interesting it's
3:22
frustrating to see a master of someone
3:25
who has made arguably one of the
3:27
greatest American movies ever made the
3:29
god father and The Godfather
3:32
to
3:34
um like just create this
3:38
mess and and people don't believe it
3:41
it's like every I've T everyone I know
3:44
who's seen it think it's a
3:46
mess and it's just God
3:50
awful and I walked out I don't know what
3:52
is I'm supposed supposed to think about
3:55
this I mean the video essay part is kind
3:58
of interesting but wow this thing
4:02
there's what the characters I mean
4:04
things that should be dramatic moments
4:06
get bursts of laughter there are violent
4:10
moments in the film a couple and it's
4:13
just
4:15
embarrassingly embarrassing laughter I
4:17
mean here's the guy that created the
4:19
scene with the horse head in the
4:21
producer's bed I mean that's a horrific
4:24
scene it's very dramatic no one laughs
4:27
during that scene all the acts of
4:29
violence in this are laughable laughable
4:33
so I don't know I it's really a
4:36
curiosity because every time I tell
4:38
someone how awful this movie is they
4:40
don't believe me and I'm like no believe
4:43
me go see it for yourself so I'm really
4:46
curious I don't know what you think
4:48
Allan what did you think of megalopolis
4:51
yeah well you said everyone you talked
4:52
to uh said it was a mess uh and they
4:55
didn't understand it everyone I've
4:57
talked to about this uh appreciates the
4:59
story behind it and and I'll say this I
5:02
I definitely liked it better than you
5:03
and I I think I got what you didn't get
5:06
in it uh what's that okay so here's the
5:10
thing I think you got a few things wrong
5:12
one is the the movie opens with a title
5:16
SE uh title uh title page I'll just say
5:19
that uh that says megalopolis uh an
5:22
American
5:24
Fable that's movie is it's a fable uh
5:26
when you say that the Roman Empire never
5:28
went away no
5:30
what what this movie attempts to say is
5:34
that uh the Roman Empire the fall of the
5:36
Roman Empire seems to be cyclical and it
5:39
happens at every turn of the century and
5:41
that movie is essentially likening
5:44
America uh and America is going down to
5:48
the fall of the Roman Empire uh there
5:51
are certain players that played to the
5:54
the fall that exists today in American
5:57
politics and American uh Society
6:00
can kind of see it there and and you
6:02
know if he's been I think it's true that
6:05
he's been writing this since the 80s
6:07
because you know you can you can take
6:09
the players and the and the groups in
6:12
this movie and liken them to this party
6:15
that party these people this movement um
6:20
there's certainly things there that you
6:21
could say is this Trump is this the
6:23
Democrats is the Republicans uh but at
6:26
the same time it's not he's not going
6:28
that on the nose by saying okay these
6:31
guys represent conservatives these guys
6:32
represent because I think I think if you
6:35
look at the movie and you compare it to
6:36
today uh the players are in the wrong
6:39
positions uh today I think I think
6:41
modern politics has changed so much that
6:44
the traditional roles you would apply uh
6:47
in this movie uh have switched around um
6:51
that said oh and I'll say this the the
6:53
movie plays out like a surrealist play
6:57
mean you're not going to get any
6:59
authentic acting uh you know you're not
7:01
gonna no one no one in this movie is
7:03
doing method um the the acting is that
7:07
of I would say a Greek play you know in
7:10
terms of the way dialogue is delivered
7:12
in the way dialogue is written you know
7:15
uh words are repeated over and over
7:17
again to make uh so he's he's this is a
7:21
very much a surrealistic uh story being
7:24
told um let's see I I I call this uh I
7:28
felt like this this is Francis Ford Copa
7:31
it's thought study from Francis Ford
7:34
Copa he's been thinking about the
7:36
direction that Society has been going
7:38
and this is this is you know Decades of
7:42
journaling uh comes to this and I think
7:44
that's the problem with the movie is
7:46
because um you know me watching it and
7:49
me being kind of uh interested in
7:51
politics being very interested in
7:53
politics and how this country has uh has
7:56
has evolved over time uh you know I get
8:00
a lot of what he's trying to say here at
8:02
this at the same time I felt like I was
8:05
I was uh barely holding on to the movie
8:07
Into The
8:09
Story allowed myself to let go for a
8:11
moment I'd be completely lost and that
8:13
happened at the end of the movie um you
8:16
know there's this thing uh there's this
8:19
substance that uh that Adam driver's uh
8:22
character wants to uh make uh the world
8:25
out of and uh and the substance you know
8:29
it just what and again you know you're
8:32
just barely grasping on to to this story
8:35
um I think uh I appreciate this movie uh
8:39
as someone who likes a movie that makes
8:41
you think uh and then and that is not
8:44
telling a story in a traditional way and
8:47
uh and is trying to say something about
8:49
current culture I appreciate this movie
8:52
uh that said i' probably never see this
8:54
movie ever again yeah well you got more
8:56
out of it than I did I will say I like
8:58
the video essay part that's kind of in
9:00
the middle of the movie where they did
9:03
they bring the lights on at your
9:04
screening No so at my screening they
9:08
brought up the lights someone walked out
9:10
a person so it became like a live event
9:14
and then it went to a smaller box on the
9:17
big screen it was a small box and did a
9:20
little video say I'm not saying that the
9:22
movie's not filled with ideas but there
9:23
are better
9:26
Oppenheimer is a better way because
9:28
there is a story in that we follow the
9:31
man Oppenheimer and there is there are
9:34
lots of ideas in that and commentary
9:36
about what scientists Unleashed and how
9:39
that changed the world changed
9:42
geopolitics but it was through a story
9:46
the story here is so muddled and you
9:48
have to did you see it with an a with a
9:50
crowd uh there were 10 people in my
9:53
crowd okay my theater was 100% full I
9:58
got I was lucky to get a seat right 100%
10:02
full people were laughing it was
10:05
embarrassing and parts of the movie they
10:07
all looked like they were shot on a
10:09
green screen with with really kind of
10:12
cheap effects yeah they shot in Atlanta
10:14
by the way in the studios there it's
10:17
it's I mean yes there are interesting
10:21
ideas about uh civilizations why Empires
10:25
fall but can you wrap it in a story that
10:28
would actually
10:30
better better Express those ideas Copla
10:34
can do that even the first line um I
10:37
mean the first words in The Godfather I
10:41
believe in America I believe in America
10:45
and it's an immigrant talking about his
10:47
belief in this country and the
10:49
opportunity that he he's good kopa is
10:53
proven very good at at wrapping themes
10:57
in a story the story here is
11:00
incoherence and yeah I mean look I get
11:03
it's like a modern Fable they bring Rome
11:05
to r i mean the themes the themes are
11:07
there uh you know today the opening uh
11:12
the opening chapter is about debt and
11:15
how uh how Society is spending more
11:17
money than that it has uh and then and
11:20
then it gets into this idea of uh how we
11:23
as a civilization are casting aside our
11:26
past uh you know you know looking toward
11:29
the future while unburdening ourselves
11:31
with with the past um you know he hits
11:34
on these themes that are very relevant
11:37
the the problem is is I don't think
11:39
Francis for Copa could rein himself in
11:42
uh I think his he went on kind of an
11:44
iasa trip and then wrote this this
11:48
script and it really needed to be a
11:50
whittel down and B uh you know made much
11:54
more grounded than it was um you know
11:57
there's this idea of Artis and time that
12:01
uh I get I get why it's there I just not
12:05
seeing the connection with it with the
12:06
entire story um the idea being artists
12:09
are able to stop time and um yeah that's
12:13
a that's a comment on Art but what
12:17
really what really does that impact have
12:19
on this story and I I felt like uh you
12:21
know he's just rambling about his
12:24
thoughts about culture and Society uh
12:27
and so again I appreciate it but I I
12:29
would never see this movie
12:31
again I I mean I don't know and like
12:34
most people I talked to said I don't
12:36
know what to think about this yeah it's
12:39
not for everybody it's definitely not
12:40
for
12:41
everybody I would not casually tell
12:43
people that you need to see this movie
12:45
but there are people I know who I think
12:47
would enjoy this
12:49
movie well I'm not one of them I can't
12:52
recommend it if you're going to see it
12:54
it's for curi it's because you're
12:57
curious yeah and and if if that's true
13:00
don't see it in IMAX I don't think you
13:02
really need to IM for sure for sure
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