The Phoenician Sceme
When wealthy businessman, Zsa-zsa Korda, appoints his only daughter as the sole heir to his estate, the two suddenly become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins.
Now, as someone who isn't the biggest fan of director Wes Anderson, I admit that I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing this film. Because, while Anderson does have a unique style of his own, I personally felt like that style was beginning to lose its charm. Movies like Asteroid City and The French Dispatch felt rather soulless and lifeless to me. Because, without that signature charm, Anderson’s visual style can begin to feel like a parody of itself. Or even worse, it can feel like a cheap imitation that was created with AI technology.
Thankfully, his particular style does work for here! Because the delightful charm that was desperately missing in Asteroid City and The French Dispatch is definitely present in this film. And that charm made for a really fun movie!
The Phoenician Scheme is an entertaining movie that features an engaging story, interesting characters, great performances, funny visual gags, and an enjoyably lighthearted tone.
I could not stop laughing at the insane and dangerous shenanigans that Zsa-zsa Korda would get himself into. Watching that character refuse to die is best part of the movie in opinion. And there are plenty of other fun and quirky characters sprinkled throughout the film as well.
Plenty of Anderson’s usual collaborators return to star in this ensemble cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Benicio del Toro, Tom Hanks, Wiillem Dafoe, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston - just to name a few - and they’re all fantastic! I especially enjoyed the scene where Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston get to play basketball together for some reason.
But this movie also marks the first time Anderson worked with actors like Riz Ahmed, Michael Cera, and Mia Threapleton; all of whom are also really good. Ahmed has a fun little role in the film, Threapleton is excellent as the film’s secondary lead, and Cera gets to be an absolutely scene stealer here. So I genuinely hope they get to collaborate with Anderson on more projects in the future.
And I’m definitely glad that I decided to give this movie a chance. Because - and I don't care if I'm in the minority with this opinion - I think this is Anderson's best film in years!