PLOT: Shady businessman Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) survives the latest of six separate assassination attempts and decides to name his estranged, noviciate nun daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) as his successor. Along with his tutor, Bjørn (Michael Cera), the three set out on a globe-trotting adventure to secure funding for his latest scheme.
REVIEW: Wes Anderson is probably the only director whose work is immediately identifiable. You could look at a still image from any one of his films and immediately recognize all the Anderson hallmarks, including his muted, retro color scheme, his boxy 1:33:1 aspect ratio, and his quirky costuming. You either go with it or you don’t, and for me, Wes Anderson movies are pure joy. Whenever a new one of his movies drops, I’ll be the first in line.
That said, Anderson has undeniably become more of an acquired taste in recent years, with all of his films since The Grand Budapest Hotel doubling down on his quirks, with none since then having the emotional weight that movie, or its predecessors, had. It’s hard to imagine him ever making another Rushmore or Royal Tenenbaums, and – rare for me – I actually disliked his last film, Asteroid City.
The Phoenician Scheme is a better movie than that was. It is anchored by a trio of marvellous performances, led by Benicio del Toro, who turns Zsa-zsa Korda into a classic Anderson antihero. While the film is unlikely to convert any non-Anderson fans, for those who love his movies, this is a welcome treat.
Zsa-zsa Korda is cut from the same cloth as Gene Hackman’s Royal Tenenbaum, with him another absentee father who, sensing his own mortality, clings closer to the family he once abandoned. If Royal had been a success, he would have been like Zsa-zsa. Del Toro aces Anderson’s razor-sharp dialogue and affected tone, making him a loveable rascal, even if he’s essentially a scoundrel who, among other things, has unapologetically used slave labor for his projects and perhaps arranged the deaths of several competitors.
Mia Threapleton (the daughter of Kate Winslet) is a find as his daughter Liesl, who shuns his lifestyle but quickly finds herself embroiled in his scheming when she winds up in his orbit. She has good chemistry with Michael Cera, who seems born to be in a Wes Anderson movie. His Bjørn has a particular reveal about 2/3rds of the way into the movie that gave me the biggest laugh I’ve had in a Wes Anderson movie in a long time. The supporting cast is loaded with Anderson regulars, from Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston as Zsa-zsa’s basketball playing rivals, to Scarlett Johansson as his cousin, Jeffrey Wright as another garrulous businessman, and Benedict Cumberbatch as the movie’s villain, Zsa-zsa’s brother Nubar. Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe and a few others also turn up in tiny cameos.
The Phoenician Scheme is probably the closest we’ll ever get to Wes Anderson making a James Bond movie, with him likely influenced by the Eurospy genre of the sixties, and the globe-trotting adventure films of that era. Other movies of his were influenced by helmers of the era, such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Tati; this one seems more indebted to someone like Terence Young.
Again, though, The Phoenician Scheme is made for Anderson devotees and won’t connect with a broader audience the way some of his classics did. While I’d like to see Anderson do something a little less enamoured with his own style, it can’t be denied that this is another entertaining romp. I’m more than happy to take a trip into his aesthetic every few years or so. If you like his movies, you’ll have a great time.
