TMS Movie Review: The Phoenician Scheme
(TPS Productions / Focus Features)
I don’t know if this was just a misreading by me or what, but when Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme was announced last year as the filmmaker’s next film, I vividly recall the reports suggesting this picture was going to lean away from Anderson’s usual style and trademarks and attempt something new. This really intrigued me. I’m typically fine with the auteur’s aesthetic and enjoy plenty of his work, but a change of pace could also be beneficial for his craft, especially since establishing a certain tone and atmosphere so distinctly him. But then the trailer for The Phoenician Scheme dropped, and this turned out to not be the case at all and looked like it was the latest in his own little, whimsical film universe. Watching the full feature this past weekend confirmed even more, this is just another, little, whimsical addition to Anderson’s repertoire.
In The Phoenician Scheme, we get Anderson’s latest kooky, yet seemingly endearing, dysfunctional family. Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) is a wanted and hated business tycoon known for dodging taxes and executing dubious trade deals which mostly benefit him. After one of many failed assassination attempts, Korda decides it’s time to choose his heir for his huge fortune and estate, and he has chosen his one daughter, nun in training Liesl (Mia Threapleton), over his nine sons. From there, father, daughter and Korda’s personal tutor and insect expert, Bjørn Lund (Michael Cera), race to make sure nothing is out of place from various investors and fixers Korda is affiliated with.
(TPS Productions / Focus Features)
Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Riz Ahmed, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright and Rupert Friend make up some of the obligatory all-star cast. Generally speaking, I think The Phoenician Scheme is fine for what it is. It’s got the usual Anderson-isms, from the plethora of famous faces to the vibrant set designs to the retro setting to the pithy dialogue. The one thing I found a bit surprising is the number of casual murders in a few scenes, which I don’t really remember being a thing in Anderson’s past work. Outside of the technicalities, I think the worst you can say about The Phoenician Scheme is that it feels like the writer-director on autopilot. Nothing is challenged or expanded in creativity. Admittedly, I would probably be a little less underwhelmed if I hadn’t gone in with different expectations. Although, I have to say, I am a little surprised this is the movie where critics turned on Anderson, since I think The French Dispatch (2021) was much more insufferable tonally. But regarding The Phoenician Scheme, unless you’re really an avid fan or appreciate all things twee, I think Anderson has officially hit his Tim Burton level of pedestrian.