Is Coppola’s $120M ‘Megalopolis’ ‘bafflingly shallow’ or ‘remarkably sincere’? Critics can’t tell

Francis Ford Coppola’s 40-year passion project “Megalopolis” has finally arrived, but critics are divided on whether the science fiction epic was worth the wait.

The film, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival, has received mixed reviews from festivalgoers, with some calling the drama “staggeringly ambitious” and others dubbing the long-awaited movie “absolute madness.”

Deadline and The Guardian report “Megalopolis” received a seven-minute standing ovation Thursday night. Coppola, 85, first conceived the film in the 1970s and development began in 1983. After several false starts and cancellations, the “Godfather” filmmaker revived the project in 2019 and used $120 million of his own money to fund it.

The ensemble cast includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter and Dustin Hoffman.

The film follows an architect who “wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia following a devastating disaster,” according to IMDb. The movie is a “Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America,” according to the film synopsis on the Cannes website.

Driver plays Cesar Catilina, a “genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future,” but Mayor Franklyn Cicero, played by Esposito, “remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare.” Emmanuel plays the mayor’s socialite daughter, Julia, “whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.”

Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ trailer abuzz ahead of Cannes Film Festival debut

In the caption for the movie’s trailer on YouTube, Coppola said, “Our new film MEGALOPOLIS is the best work I’ve ever had the privilege to preside over.”

‘Megalopolis’ Rotten Tomatoes score matches critics’ split

Critics are split evenly down the middle on the star-studded film. On Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 24 critics’ reviews were positive.

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Esther Zuckerman of The Daily Beast wrote that the film is a “laughingstock” and “stilted, earnest, over the top, CGI ridden, and utterly a mess.” The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw wrote that the film was “megabloated and megaboring” and a “bafflingly shallow film, full of high-school-valedictorian verities about humanity’s future.”

Meanwhile, David Fear of Rolling Stone said the film is “uncompromising, uniquely intellectual, unabashedly romantic, broadly satirical yet remarkably sincere about wanting not just brave new worlds but better ones.” And Bilge Ebiri of Vulture said the movie “might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy every single (expletive) second of it.”

Joshua Rothkopf of the Los Angeles Times called out fans and critics with expectations of the film being a “masterpiece,” saying there is “much to enjoy” from the “weird” and “juicy” film.

Coppola has said his film “Apocalypse Now” suffered a similar fate, with polarizing criticisms upon its release at Cannes in 1979 before ascending to acclaim and becoming a New Hollywood classic.