Director: Wes Anderson
Actors: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Mathieu Amalric
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Rating: M
‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is a semi-crime-caper and half family
drama (but not in ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ style), but all Wes Anderson. We effectively
follow 3 characters – eccentric, semi-shady millionaire Zsa-Zsa Korda (Del Toro),
his semi-estranged/soon-to-be-nun daughter Liesl (Threapleton) and Korda’s assistant
Bjorn (Cera) as they travel around fictional Phoenicia putting together a complicated
infrastructure deal.
The start is both shocking and bleakly funny, making Korda an
arrogant antihero, who’s balanced out well by Lisel and her wanting to do good
in the world. While supposed to be set in Syria (i.e. ancient Phoenicia), was
actually filmed in Germany! It’s both nice to see famous faces, but also
annoying that we don’t get to see too many actors shine, as there’s so many
that want to be in an Anderson film that we get less than 10min of screentime
from Hanks, Cranston, Ahmed, Dafoe, Murray, Abraham, Ayoade, Wright, Johansson
& Cumberbatch.
While it looks as stylish as ever, with great set design and
score, there’s some annoying cuts and edits. It feels rushed at times, trying
to get through 5 acts in the 100min runtime. While it has humourous moments, felt
like it needed more proper laughs and warmth. All the actors are solid, with Del
Toro having fun, but seeming to imitate how Hanks would’ve played the role at
times. Pleasant ending.
Overall: Not Wes’ best or worst
Gav’s Rating: 3 stars
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