Directed by: Wes Anderson
Written by: Wes Anderson
Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

---

Reuniting with Benicio del Toro after The French Dispatch (2021) visionary writer/director Wes Anderson is back with his latest cinematic offering, The Phoenician Scheme. And for those who have become weary with Anderson’s recent fondness for frequenting various different formats for his films, it may come as a relief to learn that this is a relatively straightforward outing for the director. It’s not a collection of shorts, it’s not an anthology, nor is it a story within a story.

Del Toro stars as wealthy business tycoon Zsa-zsa Korda, who after several attempts on his life appoints his daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) as sole heir to his estate. She subsequently joins him in his latest business venture: monopolising a middle eastern nation with a range of enterprises. However, when the US government manipulates the stock price of the rivets Korda needs to complete most of his work he must visit his partners one-by-one in order to negotiate “the gap” resulting from this increase in expenses.

Anderson’s latest starts with a bang – literally, as audiences witness the latest assassination attempt on del Toro’s capitalist magnate. The director’s unique slant on this mid-air action scene is so pleasingly atypical, giving it an energy and aesthetic that immediately reminds audiences of just how charming a filmmaker Anderson can be.

His accomplished approach and keen eye for action continues throughout The Phoenician Scheme with bombs, brawls and bullets aplenty – “help yourself to a hand grenade” Korada so casually suggests at one point. Anderson even breaks from his more structured style of cinematography on occasion too, utilising handheld and point-of-view shots to offer an additional angle to his action, delivering more exciting sequences than some of the genre’s recent and most well-regarded titles.

It’s become too easy, and almost cool to dismiss Anderson’s signature style in recent years, yet he proves here once again that it would be foolish to take such creative, technical and detailed work for granted so flippantly. He brings this same level of imagination to his screenplay, dividing the story into small, manageable chapters charting the progress of Korada as he attempts to combat the manufactured price increase of his much-needed small parts. Anderson accompanies this narrative structure with playful visual aids that help both with engagement and pace, ensuring that audiences can follow Korada’s antics with ease.

And as you would expect with any Anderson outing there’s an ample array of them, most of which come courtesy of his, as always, impressive cast. Benicio del Toro along with relative newcomer – and daughter of Kate Winslet – Mia Threapleton present a curious couple of central characters, with their complicated family relationship and conflicting moral compasses proving compelling. Few daddy-daughter dynamics are as contrasting as Threapleton’s innocent nun, Sister Liesel and her father, the international and ethically uninterested business tyrant.

However, it’s Michael Cera as Norwegian biology tutor Bjørn who nonchalantly overshadows them both. He delivers a wonderfully measured and comedic performance that affords the film the fun and whimsy needed to balance all the business of the main plot – he’s surely set to become a rotating regular in Anderson’s future filmography. Although a third act turn from Benedict Cumberbatch and a rather striking beard, moustache and eyebrows combo threatens to upstage even him.

However, untamed facial hair aside, there’s nothing particularly showy about The Phoenician Scheme – a positive and negative, depending on who you ask. Either way it feels like Anderson’s response to his naysayers of late, demonstrating a more contained and undemanding example of his artistry. Even the score from frequent collaborator Alexandre Desplat feels restrained. Although in this instance frustratingly so, as there was definite scope to have it permeate the picture more decidedly.

So while it doesn’t have the scale of Asteroid City (2023) nor the exuberance of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) what it does have is a simple and uncomplicated quality that’s undeniably refreshing. One that sees Anderson take stock and harken back to his earlier efforts, while still diversifying his craft in quietly confident fashion. Ultimately proving that despite his critics, Anderson’s art is still very much in style, with The Phoenician Scheme only adding further value to his cinematic capital.

---

Star Rating: ★ ★ ★

---