The film tries hard to portray a dystopian society where the rich tower above the poor, which is a clear attempt at a portrayal of modern day society. However, what Coppola tries to emulate is instead a silly and almost cartoonish portrayal of New York City, renamed in the film to New Rome, with his main characters playing the roles of Caesar and Cicero, portrayed by both Adam Driver and Giancarlo Esposito. The actors do what they can with the script given, with some certain moments aiming for seriousness that end up being downright comedic.
However, there are certain moments of light in the darkness of this Orwellian reskin, mainly being the cinematography of the city and the displays of inside Cesar's mind. These scenes show glimpses that this film was indeed made by the man behind the Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now.
The film's story was another major let-down as the ending felt very rushed
The script of the film was definitely the film's main draw-back as the star-studded cast gave excellent performances, with Adam Driver taking the limelight from the rest with his portrayal of the main character Cesar. The same can also be stated for Nathalie Emmanuel, who portrayed the film's main female protagonist Julia Cicero. Her portrayal of the Mayor's daughter showed off her ability to go from partying teenager to a sophisticated genius as she ties the story together.
The film's story was another major let-down as the ending felt very rushed. The film had built up a story following both sides of the Hamilton fortune, in which Adam Driver and Shia LeBeouf fight for access to it, with Shia's character looking like he and Hamilton's young wife would execute a plot to kill him and steal the fortune for themselves, leaving the audience shocked over her betrayal of Adam Driver. However, the execution of this plot in the film is very poor and feels completely rushed by the director. If executed correctly, it may well have saved the film from itself.
