Francis Ford Coppola may be one of the most visionary directors of our time, but his vision for his newest film Megalopolis does not appear to be paying off.
The man behind The Godfather films as well as Apocalypse Now and Bram Stoker’s Dracula was so convinced by his own vision that he self-funded the $120 million American epic film, FOX News reports.
Starring Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia Labeouf, Jon Voight and much more, the movie came out this weekend - but viewers aren't sure what to make of it.
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Megalopolis follows an architect (Driver) as he comes head-to-head with a corrupt mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) over the building of a metropolis named 'New Rome' following a major disaster.
The reaction to the film was as mixed as it can be, with some calling it an epic masterpiece and others deeming it a mess and 'one of the worst films they’ve ever seen'.
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This has led to a split down the middle 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
One particular detail that has already seen fans reacting, however, is the bizarre lines present in the movie.
In an official discussion of the film on the subreddit r/movies, the top comment compared Megalopolis perhaps unflatteringly to other films of Coppola’s.
It read: “‘I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.’ - The Godfather, 1972
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‘The horror…the horror.’ - Apocalypse Now, 1979
‘Whaddaya think of this boner I got?’ - Megalopolis, 2024.”
This is, actually - genuinely - an actual line in the film.
Meanwhile, another post in the replies to this was: “Wait until you hear ‘You’re anal as hell, Cesar. I, on the other hand, am oral as hell’."
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One commenter said: “I’m sad that I can’t tell if you’re f*cking with me” to be informed – it is indeed in the film.
Another pointed to a line of Driver’s, saying: “’Back to da cluuuub’ will never leave me. Adam Driver… oh man.”
Again. An actual line.
Another comment in the thread slammed the film, calling it 'an enormous turd of a movie', adding: "That was so so bad.
"Pretty wild that Aubrey Plaza is in one of the best movies of 2024 and one of the worst.”
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One went as far as to say: “I can honestly say this was the worst movie I have ever seen in a theater. I was baffled the whole time at everything.
“The awful acting that is 50 percent ADR lines that don’t fit, to the just heinous problematic and ridiculous characters
“1/10 or 10/10 I can’t decide”.
Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com, however, loved the film, saying: “Megalopolis is exactly what movies can and should be—unflinchingly earnest."
Meanwhile, Vulture's Bilge Ebriri said it might be 'the craziest thing I’ve ever seen', adding: "And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy every single bats**t second of it."
Topics: Film, TV and Film
Michael Slavin