A powerful and riveting odyssey on the American Dream.

“The Brutalist” is over three hours and plays like a classic film with an overture, a 15 minute intermission, and an epilogue. And it’s all filmed in VistaVision. You start seeing the film with an upside down shot of the Statue of Liberty, as our immigrant hero makes his way to the USA. And then, you hear loud music composed brilliantly by Daniel Blumberg and going along with the mesmerizing opening shot. And finally, you meet the immigrant and Holocaust survivor-a Hungarian-Jewish architect named Laszlo Toth, played authentically and memorably by Adrien Brody, who has a Polish, Jewish, and Hungarian background.

I knew I would be in for an epic like “Once Upon a Time in America” or “The Godfather.” Only instead of Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese directing it, we have Brady Corbet, who directed “Vox Lux,” and who acted in “Melancholia,” “Thirteen,” and “Clouds of Sils Maria,” among others. He presents “The Brutalist” with a Coppola ambiance that’s obviously wiser and more ambitious than how the filmmaker presented “Megalopolis” a few months ago.

As his entrance in America begins, Toth travels to Philadelphia to work in his cousin Atilla’s (Alessandro Nivola) furniture store and then for billionaire Harrison Lee Van Buren, Sr. (Guy Pearce). And when his ill-stricken wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) and mute orphaned niece Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy) finally arrive, he becomes part of Lee Van Buren’s vision, while his marriage begins to feel threatened. What isn’t an American dream without dreams, conflicts and pathos all rolled into one?

Each chapter is divided into three with the time periods distinguishing the main protagonist and the people in his life. And each story had me writing in my notebook, as I try to acknowledge what Toth is doing in America, how he gets by, who he meets, and what will become of his career. He makes friends with an African American father named Gordon (Isaach de Bankole), deals with the billionaire’s fat head son (Joe Alwyn), and is even accused of making a pass with Atilla’s wife (Emma Laird).

It’s very rare we have movies with intermissions these days, and I remember Steve McQueen’s 4-hour doc “Occupied City” and a special release of Quentin Tarantino’s western “The Hateful Eight” receiving them. And I used to check out classic screenings at the Hazlet movie theater, where an intermission would only last about 2-3 minutes. When I saw “The Brutalist,” I found its intermission running for 15 minutes, and I’m hoping for the sake of movie goers that us critics aren’t the only ones receiving it. If you reader do trust my advice and see this movie, please let me know if you get the well deserved break.

Brody carries the film to the very core, as if his background has given him the ability to merge with his character. He must follow the rules of an immigrant doing big things in America-his entrance, his humble stepping stones, his strong transitions, and how he handles whatever happens in the workplace. This is, without a doubt, his best performance since “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” literally a decade ago.

And Jones continues to delight us in the independent circuit (as demonstrated wisely with “On the Basis of Sex,” “The Aeronauts,” “The Theory of Everything,” etc.). But in this role, she delivers with her character’s tone and sadness, regarding her condition and how she views her husband’s mental state. This always has to pertain to work.

“The Brutalist” is a long epic that lives up with the giants, and that’s quite an impressive step up for Corbett. There’s a lot to gaze at, a lot to examine, and a lot of time for this architect to adjust to his new American life. Appreciate this intermission, because you’re gonna need it.