MEGALOPOLIS (in theatres)

Francis Ford Coppola (1939-) in his dotage must have had a petit mal seizure, an hallucination; creating a fable, mimicking the fall of the Roman Empire (31BC-AD 476); steroidal ambition meshes the historical with the future; doused in euphemisms bordering on the ludicrous: Adam Driver, seemed ill-equipped and jejune as “Caesar” a supreme architect prancing atop a rather hideous structure, his haircut was a pathetic imitation of the archival ruler; inebriated, foolishly mingling among the hedonistic, politically soured populace earning, deserved derision; iconic stars: Shia LeBeouf, Robert DeNiro, Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Lawrence Fishburne, as a token to the director, acquiesced; embarrassingly we watch as their pinnacle slips below sea level; Nathalie Emmanuel (Cicero’s (Giancarlo Esposito)daughter) is sufficiently endowed and skilled but was limited in a role that demanded little, except physiognomy. Woefully, even the villains come off squashy and flat.

Coppola’s vision has no boundaries and constantly slips between films of the past (“The Gladiator”, “Ben-Hur”, “The Fall of the Roman Empire”) and a future world, optimistically hopeful, where “parties” find more cohesiveness than disparities.

Cinematography saved the muddled plot from utter disillusionment, gorgeous to a fault, its magnificence stratospheric, spellbinding.

In conclusion, confusion reigned, in need of a second viewing, but I would have to have a petit mal seizure to do so.

TWO STARS!!

Peneflix