Cannes: the critics are reporting from the premiere of “Magalopolis” and the word is not good.
We were warned that Francis Ford Coppola’s $130 million movie would be an operatic failure. But early reviews include: “Disaster,” “A mess,” “Craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Reviewers admire the look of the film but have no idea what it’s about. Again, this is not a surprise.
How about this? “MEGALOPOLIS is truly insufferable on so many levels. You can tell that this has been forty years in the making and not in a good way by any means. Far past its sell by date right out of the gate. Aubrey Plaza is unsurprisingly the only redeeming quality”
Or: “More like MegaBonkerslis!! Can a film be simultaneous brilliant & a huge mess at the same time? Coppola certainly tries! And boy does he have a LOT to say. Packs in every single thought he has about America (aka New Rome) and its downfall into 2+ hours.”
Screen Daily:” It pains me to say that Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS is a disaster.”
Rolling Stone: “So long as there are people who love movies that are actually about things, and think about the past 6000 years of human civilization, there is an audience for this.”
Variety: “To call this garish, idea-bloated monstrosity a mere “fable” is to grossly undersell the project’s expansive insights into art, life and legacy.
This isn’t funny. Coppola has put everything into this film. It could be a hit years from now when the passions have settled. But for now it’s a big miss. And the problem is that Coppola has literally bet the farm on this project. He’s got no distributor. I do think Paramount should take it on as the studio has lived on “The Godfather” movies for 50 years.
Vulture: “There is nothing in Megalopolis that feels like something out of a “normal” movie. It has its own logic and cadence and vernacular. The characters speak in archaic phrases and words, mixing shards of Shakespeare, Ovid, and at one point straight-up Latin. Some characters speak in rhyme, others just in high-minded prose that feels like maybe it should be in verse. At one point, Adam Driver does the entire “To be or not to be” soliloquy from Hamlet .Why? I’m not exactly sure. But it sure sounds good.”
