Why was NYC suddenly patterned after The Roman Republic?
Coppola was updating Lucius Sergius Catiline's failed attempt to take control of the Roman republic in 63 BC in which he lost to his rival Marcus Tullius Cicero. Thus NYC in his movie is New Rome in an alternative America.
Why could Driver pause time and why didn't he ever seem to actually use it to his benefit?
It wasn't a literal power, but a metaphor for the ability of artists to 'stop time' when they're focused on creating. In other words, when visionaries create, everything else freezes. Cesar Catilina used this 'power' to his benefit to successfully create Megalopolis.
What was the whole point of that Megalon substance anyway
It was symbolic of faith and ties into the line: "When you jump into the unknown, you prove you are free." Megalopolis would not come to exist without faith. And Cesar wouldn't receive healing for his (apparently) mortal wound without faith.
What did his character even do for a job
He was an architect and the director of the City Design department.
why did all these women fawn over him
Because he was talented, intelligent, wealthy and brooding, not to mention successful, a Nobel Prize winner and a major celebrity in New Rome. Did you see his posh penthouse? He was also tall, dark and not-so-handsome (two out of three ain't bad). Such factors would naturally attract a few beautiful women.
It would have been a much more interesting movie if it was set entirely in a Megalopolis
That would indeed be an interesting movie, but
this film is about what it takes to create a 'Megalopolis' (faith in one's vision, perseverance, finding loyal loved ones, uniting and overcoming personal flaws), as well as the consequences of carrying it out (persecution, slander and working with those hostile toward you/your vision).
It goes even deeper than that, but I'll stop there. The movie's an entertaining cinematic
parable with several interesting insights from which to mull over and glean.
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